Boy Genius

Carl M. Cannon is the Washington Bureau Chief of RealClearPolitics and a past recipient of the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting and the Aldo Beckman Award, the two most prestigious awards for White House coverage. Previous positions include Executive Editor of Politics Daily, Washington Bureau Chief for Reader's Digest, White House correspondent for both the Baltimore Sun and National Journal, a fellow-in-residence at Harvard University's Institute of Politics, and a past president of the White House Correspondents' Association. He is the author of The Pursuit of Happiness in Times of War, co-author of Reagan's Disciple: George W. Bush's Troubled Quest for a Presidential Legacy with Lou Cannon, and Circle of Greed with Patrick Dillon. Carl was also a member of the San Jose Mercury-News staff awarded a Pulitzer Prize for the paper's coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Lou Dubose is the co-author, with Molly Ivins, of Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush. He was the editor of the Texas Observer for eleven years and worked briefly as politics editor of the Austin Chronicle. Jan Reid is an award-winning novelist and magazine journalist. His most recent book is a much-praised memoir of Texas and Mexico, The Bullet Meant for Me. He is a veteran observer and analyst of Texas politics.

George W. Bush calls Karl Rove "boy genius" and "the man with the plan." Insiders call him the man behind the Republican ascendancy. Who is this guy? And what is the plan?