Learning from Karl Rove

When Karl Rove, George W. Bush's chief strategist, was running the Texas governor's campaign for Bill Clements in 1986, he discovered a bug in his office at a particularly opportune time. Election victory was soon his. ODS Chair Mirek Topolánek discovered in late-Sept. that the police were wiretapping him, but he hasn't been able to pull a Karl Rove. ODS has called for some heads to roll, but this will likely fade into nothing. ODS's campaign is floundering. According to HN today, its campaign chief, Libuše Benešová, has just quit with only two weeks to go before the elections. ODS has been concentrating on the Grosstapo, police excesses and wiretaps and hasn't connected with the voters. Topolánek, foolishly, even suggested yesterday on TV Nova that he might be ousted as ODS chair in Dec. If he wants to survive, he might have to watch Karl Rove more carefully. eavesdropping