Rove, a GOP superman with a target on his back

In a capital deeply divided by partisan politics, few individuals have been as polarizing as departing White House adviser Karl Rove, whom Republicans hail as the engineer of George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns and Democrats loathe as a man who is willing to do just about anything to push the GOP agenda.

Rove has reached the highest level of power and is only a notch below President Bush and Vice President Cheney in terms of influence and his polarizing effect on the political landscape.

{mosads}A review of the Congressional Record over the past six years by The Hill’s staff shows that references to “Karl Rove” on the Senate and House floors increased from 19 in the 107th Congress to 127 during the 109th, when the political establishment was embroiled in the Valerie Plame CIA leak scandal. Only a quarter of the way through, Rove already registers 39 references in the current 110th Congress.

Animosity between Democrats and Rove, already high after the CIA scandal broke in 2003, boiled over in the aftermath of the 2004 election, when Democrats felt Rove had “swift boated” the election into Bush’s hands. Some went as far as Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), who alleged, without proof, that Rove had planted the fake CBS memos to discredit Dan Rather and distract voters from Bush’s “draft dodging.”

More than a dozen Democrats, including Sens. Harry Reid (Nev.), John Kerry (Mass.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa), as well as Reps. John Conyers (Mich.) and George Miller (Calif.), have called for Rove to resign since 2003, when allegations first arose over his involvement in the CIA leak. As recently as April, presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) circulated a petition seeking the deputy chief of staff’s ouster.

Rove is the latest high-profile Bush administration official to leave office in the wake of the Democratic takeover of Congress in November; the process of those resignations began with the departure of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The new Democratic Congress began an extensive series of oversight investigations into the executive branch, and nearly all have taken aim at Rove in one form or another.

Bolstered by pressure from the liberal blogosphere, Democrats have blamed Rove for everything from politicizing the Patriot Act and Social Security reform to inaccurately asserting that adult stem cells hold more promise than embryonic cells.

Rove has often led the way in uniting the White House and congressional Republicans against opposition from the other side of the aisle, such as when he told Senate Republicans to reject a compromise with Democrats on long-stalled nominations for the federal judiciary in 2005.

Democrats like Rep. Jerry Nadler (N.Y.) have decried his tactics with such terms as “political warfare.”

But for Republicans, Rove’s hand often brought the Midas touch for winning elections or moving legislation. His devotion to conservative principles “has never wavered,” said RNC Chairman Robert M. Mike Duncan in a statement following the announcement of Rove’s resignation.

“He will be remembered most for engineering two successful presidential campaigns, but those of us who have worked closely with Karl know that his dedication to politics was not for its own sake,” Duncan said. “Karl was and is, at heart, a policy person, someone who has strong beliefs and a deep commitment to making our nation better.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) echoed those sentiments, thanking Rove for “his years of inspired service.”

Rove’s departure, which he first began to consider last summer, comes as Democrats continue to press the administration for its role in the allegedly politically motivated firings of several U.S. attorneys. Earlier in the month, Rove failed to comply with a subpoena to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“The list of senior White House and Justice Department officials who have resigned during the course of these congressional investigations continues to grow, and today, Mr. Rove added his name to that list,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Monday.

“There is a cloud over this White House, and a gathering storm. A similar cloud envelopes Mr. Rove, even as he leaves the White House.”

Yet for all the controversy his figure has stirred up on Capitol Hill, Karl Rove’s absence will still be most conspicuous at the White House. His departure marks the end of an era for the Bush administration, one increasingly marked by partisan rancor and butting heads with an opposition in control of Congress.

“Karl Rove is moving on down the road,” Bush said this morning in a press conference on the White House lawn. Then, thanking his friend for 34 years of advice and eyeing his own lame-duck status, Bush said, “I'll be on the road behind you here in a little bit.”