Last Updated: Saturday, 6 November, 2004, 18:15 GMT
Drawing up blueprints for Bush victoryBy Rachel Clarke
BBC News, Washington
US President George W Bush, addressing his party faithful in the hours after winning re-election, praised Karl Rove simply as "the architect" of victory.
Pressure and pranks
By the time election night came around, Mr Rove was in the White House, where, unusually for a political adviser, he has an office.
He set up computers in the Old Family Dining Room and started tabulating results. He had set up a massive network of contacts, not just in state capitals, but individual districts and precincts to monitor turnout and support.Mr Rove may spin the news, but the media still wants to hear him
Early exit polls quoted by media seemed to give Mr Kerry the edge, but colleagues said Mr Rove indicated right away that they did not tally with his information.
He used his own data to put Ohio and Florida in the Bush column - bringing cheers from the president and his family when he went into the Roosevelt Room and told them.And when the TV networks gave either Ohio or Nevada to Mr Bush but not both - which would have led him to be declared as the winner - Mr Rove was one of the president's aides who got on the phone to news chiefs to try to pressure them to change their minds.
But he is far more than the bully or evil genius as he is often portrayed.
Mr Rove is also the prankster-in-chief, darting back to the press cabin on Air Force One to make jokes and interrupting a live broadcast on CNN shortly before the president's post-election news conference, when the correspondent was talking about his role.
Those jokes may be at the expense of a hapless reporter or a political opponent or even a colleague, but it is part of his job and aim to charm the media. And while journalists may be sceptical of his spin, they still want to hear what he has to say.
The 2004 presidential election was the last political campaign for Mr Bush. But for the architect of the success - who saw his president elected by the most people ever and with increased Republican majorities in House and Senate - who knows.
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