To go the way of the Old Man?

Karl Rove Questions Future of NH Primary

UPDATE: His N.H. Friends Defend Him; Remarks Taped For St. Anselm Archives; Would Be Easy to Review Transcript...

Filed May 9, 2003, 9:00 p.m. - Just days after New Hampshire's venerable symbol, The Old Man of the Mountain, crumbled from its ancient perch, President George W. Bush's top political advisor, Karl Rove, was in the state (May 7, 2003) indicating yet another New Hampshire icon  may be heading for a fall. On the line is nothing less than the future of the state's celebrated First in the Nation Presidential Primary.

As warnings about the stability of the Old Man were heard for years before it's abrupt demise, the Primary has also survived years of threats from states and interests long envious of its premier position in choosing Presidents. Rove's comments in a Boston Globe story, which for instance directly question New Hampshire's usefulness as an accurate electoral barometer, included a reminder he apparently could not resist that George W. was trounced in the last Primary by Arizona Sen. John McCain. The implication being: how out of touch New Hampshire was then, and maybe still is, occasional lunches at the White House with state GOP activists notwithstanding. Will the Primary go the way of the Old Man by the year 2008? A month ago that was the message from the Democrats in that after the present cycle (i.e., the 2004 contest) a national committee will make recommendations to change the system (Read: downgrade New Hampshire's influence in favor of larger states dominated by such special interests as Big Labor and minority voters close to that party's base).

Now the top Republican political guru in the White House visits with a similar message, and the state's top politicos so far are saying nothing. But it's another warning sign, and a serious one, that the winds of change are taking their toll on  yet another important New Hampshire institution.

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FOLLOW-UP filed Thursday, 5/15/2003, 8:00 p.m. - The Union Leader's respected political writer John DiStaso reports in his weekly column, "Granite Status," that the Boston Globe story (link posted below) quotes White House Political Director Karl Rove "out of context" and is based on a taped interview conducted by a St. Anselm College staff person which was later played for a Globe reporter. Evidently the Globe writer did not interview Rove directly, according to the column, but reported on the taped comments.

DiStaso quotes the St. Anselm staffer, Jennifer Donahue, as indicating Rove was "very supportive" of the Primary. Rove spoke at a seminar at St. Anselm, located in the suburbs of Manchester, on May 7th. The Globe story appeared May 8th. Both GOP National Committeeman Tom Rath of Concord, who regularly meets with Rove in Washington, and Joel Miaola, chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, a longtime Rove friend, defended Rove in DiStaso's column, but neither indicated they had listened to the taped interview, which was made, according to DiStaso, for the college's political institute archives.

Write's DiStaso: "WHAT DID HE SAY? According to his New Hampshire friends, it's not what senior Presidential adviser Karl Rove said about the New Hampshire primary when he was here last Thursday. It's all about what The Boston Globe said he said."

We disagree. It's all about what's on the tape. Certainly a transcript of the tape would both make interesting reading and clear up the matter as Rove's quotes in the Globe, if accurate, whether out of context or not, are hardly encouraging for those who value the New Hampshire Primary. It would also prove whether or not the Globe, like it's parent newspaper The New York Times recently learned, has another writer of fiction on its hands in the newsroom. – Dean Dexter

Access DiStaso's Union Leader column here

First Primary Serves All -- By Matthew H.Upton

Rove in the Limelight -- By David Broder