Bolten's task: a bottom-up review

In naming Josh Bolten as White House chief of staff, the president has taken the route of predictability and continuity–which comes as no surprise to anyone who has known him and worked with him.

After all, Bolten is a known–and very well respected–commodity. Not only did he serve as domestic policy adviser during the 2000 campaign, but he also has experience on Capitol Hill (as a top aide to Sen. Bob Packwood when he was chairman of the Finance Committee), on Wall Street (Goldman Sachs), and as deputy chief of staff before going over to head the budget office.

In other words, Bush and the rest of the White House know him well.

In this change, Bush is clearly giving Bolten a free hand to do a bottom-up review, and that's going to happen. Still in play: someone at a very high level to oversee congressional relations, which has been a problem for this administration. And while part of that is the fault of the White House, I would also argue that part of the congressional problem is a weak leadership (particularly in the House). It's also election time, and the president is not popular–so what's the incentive to go out on a limb for him? Not much.

The departure of Card will be hard for the president. He's personally very close to him (they go mountain biking together). There is "a genuine affection" between them, says one top White House staffer. When the president announced the decision at a senior staff meeting this morning, the two men hugged. It was the right decision for both Card and Bush–but it's tough, given the fact that these men lived through 9/11 together.

But Card understood the president needed some new blood for the rest of his term in office and did the right thing.