"Here are 10 other things we know for sure following the release of McClellanÕs harsh new tell-all, ÒWhat Happened: Inside the Bush White House And Washington's Culture of Deception.Ó

¥ Bush is toxic. The consistently unpopular president says history will judge him kindly, which may be the case. But McClellanÕs book diminishes any prospect that Americans will view Bush favorably before Jan. 20, 2009. The more relevant, immediate impact of BushÕs low poll numbers and lack of credibility will be felt by John McCain and other Republicans on the ballot this fall.

¥ So is Rove. Former Bush adviser Karl Rove has drawn rave reviews as a post-Bush commentator on FOX News. But according to McClellan, Rove was one of the major sources of turmoil in BushÕs second term. McClellan writes, for example, that the White House spent most of the first week after Hurricane Katrina Òin a state of denial.Ó Specifically, he blames Rove for suggesting that Bush pose for cameras while monitoring the wreckage of New Orleans from the comforts of Air Force One. McClellan wrote that he and White House counselor Dan Bartlett opposed the idea, but he was later told that ÒKarl was convinced we needed to do it, and the president agreed.Ó

This White House placed little importance on press relations and day-to-day messaging. In response to McClellanÕs book, Rove said, ÒIt goes to show how out of the loop he was.Ó The comment says more about Rove than it does about McClellan; why would a White House intentionally leave its press secretary Òout of the loopÓ? And why would Rove amplify this point, even after the fact?

¥ Timing hurts McCain most. McClellanÕs book is being released at perhaps the worst possible moment for McCain, as he holds a series of low-profile fundraisers with Bush this week. More importantly, the book comes out as McCain emerges from the shadows next week in a full-fledged general-election campaign after largely squandering a two-month window of Democratic infighting when he had an unobstructed bullhorn. This book helps Obama attack Bush, McCain and the Iraq war. ItÕs also harder for McCain now to make the case that the GOP is the party of ÒchangeÓ. ÒWe got caught up in playing the Washington game the way itÕs being played today,Ó McClellan said on NBC.

¥ The case for Iraq is an even harder sell. While already a steep climb, McCainÕs efforts to win this campaignÕs debate over Iraq just got harder. McClellan writes that Bush was not Òopen and forthright on Iraq,Ó and that he sold the war through a Òpolitical propaganda campaign.Ó Democrats will point out that McCain supported and defended that Òcampaign.Ó

¥ Bushies arenÕt forever. Perhaps the most shocking part about McClellanÕs book is that itÕs hard to find a Bushie who owes more to this president than he does. HeÕs the first one to leave the camp (Matthew Dowd was never really part of the Austin clique). Will he be the last?

¥ The White House is no longer the center of the universe. In a statement she fired off Wednesday morning, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino described McClellanÕs book as a ÒsadÓ effort by a ÒdisgruntledÓ former employee whoÕs now Ònot the Scott we knew.Ó But PerinoÕs statement was met with... silence. Or something close to it. More reports rolled in during the day of reaction from people running for president or their surrogates than anyone connected to the current president. Even though the book is a direct attack on this White House, the press is now past the point of focusing any level of coverage on its current occupants.

¥ Media feels vindicated. While McClellan writes that the media was too lenient on the Bush administration, his book this week prompted a round of ÒI-told-you-soÕsÓ from White House reporters, who frequently charged that the press secretary was being less than direct with them in part because he was receiving mixed messages from within the White House...."


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