Card Out at White House

Andrew Card has resigned after more than five years as White House chief of staff. The departure is being described in a lot of articles as a shakeup, but since Card’s replacement is Joshua Bolten (not to be confused with UN ambassador John Bolton), the OMB director and another Bush loyalist, it doesn’t seem likely to change things much:

In picking Bolten to replace Card, the current President Bush stayed close to home. Resisting Republican advice to pick a seasoned Washington veteran the way Reagan brought in former Senate majority leader Howard H. Baker Jr. when his own presidency was listing in his second term, Bush characteristically picked someone he knows well and trusts implicitly.

It might be unfair to Card, but I can’t help but remember the previous resignation from the White House staff, when Claude Allen left and the White House said he wanted to spend more time with his family. A month later the real reason came out when Allen was arrested for stealing. Never assume the White House story is the true one.