Karl Rove's stepfather was gay, book asserts

SUMMARY: The top Bush aide was close to his father figure, Louis Rove, who died in Palm Springs as Rove worked on Bush's gay-baiting 2004 campaign.

A new book from the authors of a previous tome about the life and work of Bush political adviser Karl Rove claims that Rove's stepfather was gay, the American-Statesman newspaper of Austin, Texas, reported.

In "The Architect: Karl Rove and the Master Plan for Absolute Power," James Moore and Wayne Slater dedicate two chapters to the touchier side of the Republican Party's exploitation of antigay sentiment.

In Chapter 9, "A Few Simple Questions: What's in Karl's Closet?" the authors draw on interviews with gay acquaintances of Rove's stepfather, Louis Rove, as well as an interview with a circumspect Karl Rove, to reveal that Louis came out as gay after divorcing Rove's mother, according to the American-Statesman.

The chapter jabs hard at Rove, pointing out that Louis Rove, who was clearly Rove's primary father figure, died in Palm Springs, Calif., just as "his son was in the midst of launching the anti-gay issues campaign that was to lead to the re-election of George W. Bush."

The authors quote Rove and friends of Rove's stepfather to illustrate that Rove was close to him throughout his life and seemed not to judge his sexuality. This, and Rove's self-professed agnosticism, are major exhibits in Moore and Slater's claim of hypocrisy.

Moore, an Austin-based journalist, and Slater, senior political writer for the Dallas Morning News, paint a sharp portrait of an intelligent, ruthless and deeply cynical Karl Rove.

Though this is their second book on Rove (after 2003's "Bush's Brain"), there's little overlap. Bush's Brain focused on Rove's rise and the development of his association with George W. Bush; "The Architect" focuses on how he pursued the creation of an enduring Republican hegemony. (The Advocate)


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