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United States News Title: GOP maestro Rove orchestrates a doozy of a strategy [LA TIMES THROWS IN THE TOWEL] GOP maestro Rove orchestrates a doozy of a strategyWith polls showing GOP candidates flagging in key congressional races, White House strategist Karl Rove is glad-handing in tight districts and exerting political influence to help Republicans maintain control of Congress. BY TOM HAMBURGER AND PETER WALLSTEN Los Angeles Times Service BUFFALO, N.Y. - During a whirlwind, five-hour trip to bolster an endangered GOP congressman's reelection prospects, White House political guru Karl Rove last week delivered a fiery speech to 500 party activists, then shook every available hand and posed for snapshots like a rock star. He toured suburbs recently trashed by a snowstorm. He also found time to huddle with local strategists. But the most significant element of Rove's effort to help four-term Rep. Tom Reynolds keep his job may have occurred behind closed doors, when the White House strategist met with a federal disaster relief official contemplating how to respond to the storm. Four days after the meeting, Reynolds announced that President Bush would authorize millions of dollars in federal disaster aid for the area. The timing was perfect: Reynolds broke the news hours after testifying before the House Ethics Committee about his role in the Mark Foley sex scandal -- knocking reports on the scandal out of the spotlight. Reynolds' fate on Nov. 7 is considered a bellwether for Republicans in the Northeast -- in the midterm elections, as well as the long term. And his poll numbers crashed after revelations that he had known about suspicious e-mails the former Florida congressman had sent to male congressional pages. In the wake of the announcement about federal aid, a survey by a Buffalo television station showed Reynolds regaining a narrow lead. The White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will provide the funds, insist that Rove exerted no influence on the decision to grant relief or on the timing of the announcement. ''The stars were aligned. It was a coincidence,'' said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. As the midterm campaign enters the home stretch, the GOP congressional juggernaut that has dominated national politics for more than a decade may be over. Polls may show Democrats extending their leads in pivotal races across the country. But the man most responsible for the Republicans' glory days -- and arguably still the single most powerful political operative in the United States -- is far from discouraged. Instead, Rove is giving a virtuoso performance designed to prevent the Democrats from taking control of the House and Senate or, if that is no longer possible, to hold down the size of the Democratic victory to make it easier for the GOP to come back in 2008. His plan is three-pronged: to reenergize any conservatives who may be flagging; to make sure the GOP's carefully constructed campaign apparatus is functioning at peak efficiency; and to put the resources of the federal government to use for political gain. In terms of the third prong, signs of the maestro at work are visible in Buffalo and beyond. Out in Missouri, incumbent Sen. Jim Talent is struggling to retain a seat that is considered vital to maintaining the GOP's Senate majority. Talent, whose mother died of breast cancer, has made support for fighting the disease an element in his campaign. Recently, Rove's deputies arranged for first lady Laura Bush to appear with Talent to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Once a year for the last two years, the National Park Service has bathed the soaring Gateway Arch that dominates downtown St. Louis in pink light -- the signature color of the breast cancer awareness campaign. This year, the pink lighting coincided with Laura Bush's visit. The White House says it encouraged the action. Similarly, the Transportation Department, responding to White House prodding, dispatched the federal highway administrator to Columbus, Ohio, last week to announce grants for a transportation hub that will make it easier to move freight among air, rail and highway carriers. The event was designed specifically, an administration official said, to shore up prospects for Rep. Deborah Pryce, the No. 4 Republican in the House, who is trailing her opponent. And when environmentalists from the San Francisco Bay area sharpened their attacks on Rep. Richard W. Pombo, R-Calif., chairman of the House Resources Committee, the White House political office arranged for President Bush to stop in his district to sign executive orders protecting wetlands -- with Pombo standing by his side. Last Tuesday, Rove used the White House itself to fire up the base, setting up a tent on the lawn for cabinet secretaries and other officials to deliver the GOP's hard-edged message on the dangers of a Democratic triumph to 42 generally sympathetic radio talk show hosts.
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