Republican strategists credit Rove not only with his constant preparations for
the next election but also with laying a foundation for GOP success in future
campaigns. Critics say he has brazenly pushed his obsession with electoral
politics into the deepest levels of the executive branch.
For example, he and Ken Mehlman, his onetime deputy who now heads the
Republican National Committee, made a point of visiting nearly every Cabinet
agency before the 2002 midterm elections, providing polling data and election
priorities for top agency managers.
In early 2002, Rove personally addressed the 50 most-senior
employees of the Interior Department at a retreat in West Virginia.
He showed them a slide presentation summarizing presidential polling and key
races. Then, from the podium, he mentioned upcoming Interior Department
decisions that could influence the midterm elections.
At the time, Rove noted that Oregon's incumbent Sen. Gordon H.
Smith, a Republican, faced a difficult reelection. The Interior Department was
then questioning whether to allow drought-stricken farmers to pull more water
from Oregon's Klamath River, endangering the state's salmon population.
Farmers are a critical part of the Oregon GOP base.
An inspector general's report subsequently concluded there was no
inappropriate pressure on the decision makers in the Klamath case. But
the controversial decision to release water to farmers resulted in the largest
fish kill in the West and still angers Indian fishermen and environmentalists.
Smith won reelection.