How Bush Did Conservatives Wrong

Wednesday's press conference at which Bush announced he was "accepting" Rumsfield's resignation as Secretary of Defense was astounding. Obviously, decisions of this magnitude are not made willy-nilly (that's political speak for without due diligence). In fact, the New York Times and others are reporting that this decision had been in the works for months (article).

What doesn't make sense is why Bush wouldn't have made this decision one or two months BEFORE the election -- which would have helped Republicans in the mid-term election. With the war in Iraq dominating political water coolers, removing Rumsfield would have denied the Democrats of a highy visible and polarizing whipping boy. Why Bush would wait until the day AFTER the election is hard to understand.

We know that he is fiercely loyal. But loyalty to Rumsfield alone can't explain this. It wasn't that long ago (read one or two weeks ago) that Bush was telling people that Rumsfield would be there for the remainder of his term. Now we learn he was being less than candid.

What other reasons could there be ...