Marshall Wittmann predicted yesterday that Patrick Fitzgerald will soon be the subject of the scathing White House smear machine. I think that might be true, but I doubt it’ll be effective.
We will soon learn the fate of Mr. Rove. But what we already know is what his reaction will be if he or anyone else in the White House are indicted – he will unleash the dogs of war against Mr. Fitzgerald. Rove undoubtedly has his operatives in place and prepared to respond if the indictment comes down. The plan of attack has been signed, sealed and ready for delivery at a Fox News outlet in your neighborhood. […]
[If Fitzgerald] indicts, nothing else will matter to the GOP smear team than sullying the reputation of the special counsel. Hopefully, he has no unpaid parking tickets, has never jaywalked or removed a label from a mattress. If he has committed these misdeeds, we will see them advertised as a screaming headline on Drudge. They will do a “South Carolina” number on Fitzgerald.
I said something similar in July, but I’ve come to believe that, if indictments are handed down, Rove & Co. might as well not bother. An organized smear of Fitzgerald won’t work.
For one thing, it’s far too late. By the time Ken Starr drew up a list of reasons to impeach Clinton, Starr was already a household name — and most Americans didn’t like him. His investigation had progressed for years and the public had a chance to weigh the performance. They weren’t impressed; national polls consistently showed Americans believing that Starr was on a political/moralistic vendetta. If Republicans wanted to paint Fitzgerald with the same brush, they should have started trying over a year ago.
Moreover, it’s hard to smear someone you’ve already praised. RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, appearing on Meet the Press recently, said he had “tremendous confidence” in Fitzgerald. For that matter, Bush has personally praised Fitzgerald, noting just last week the “dignified way” in which he’s conducted the investigation.
It’s a tough spot. The Bush gang is at its most comfortable when they’re tearing someone apart. (Ironically, it’s how they ended up with the Plame scandal in the first place.) Fitzgerald, however, isn’t their typical foe.
He’s a credible, no-nonsense prosecutor who’s done nothing but pursue the truth. Unlike Starr, Fitzgerald brings no partisanship or ideology to the table.
“He has no agenda,” says David Kelley, former U.S. attorney in New York and a longtime friend. “He looks at the facts, uncovers the facts and goes where the facts lead him.”
Mary Jo White, who was Fitzgerald’s boss when she was U.S. attorney in Manhattan, says she knows nothing about his political views — “if he has any, and he may not.”
Rove & Co. want to turn this guy into an overzealous out-of-control prosecutor? That might work with the Bill Safires of the world, but for those with common sense and good judgment, it’s a lost cause.
It may awkward for the right to deal with this case on the merits, but without a reasonable target for their ire, I don’t see them having any other choice.