Karl Rove's leaving

Karl Rove, President Bush's leading political strategist, described in the title of a book by James Moore and Wayne Slater as "Bush's Brain," has decided to leave the administration by the end of the month. Read Paul Gigot's interview with him in the Wall Street Journal here.

Rove has been demonized by many as a sort of evil Rasputin character who pulls the President's strings. He was the the guy who dreamed of a "permanent majority" for the Republicans. His leaving will be a cause of joy for administration opponents.

His official explanation is that he wants to spend more time with his family, but there are two basic lines of reasoning about why he is going now:

#1--George Bush's political life is essentially now over. He's a lame duck president with no more elections to look forward to, so it is time for Machiavelli -- er, Rove -- to seek another prince.

#2--Although he didn't get indicted in Plamegate, there are plenty of Democrats now controlling Congress who still want to bring him down, so he is leaving town one step ahead of the posse.

What's everybody think?