USTIN, Texas - When a hurricane hit Florida in 1992, President Bush dispatched his friend Andrew Card to handle the public relations disaster, amid accusations that the administration acted too late. Three months later, the president summoned Card to handle a more personal crisis: making the transition from the White House after losing to Bill Clinton.
Exactly eight years later, Card is back at the center of a maelstrom involving both Florida and the Bush family, one of several friends of the former president now advising George W. Bush on how to handle an election he has not yet won. And in photographs and whispers, the campaign has made it clear: Should Bush prevail, Card, 53, a former Massachusetts legislator and corporate lobbyist, would probably be named White House chief of staff.
Card's sudden visibility is part of a careful strategy to make Bush appear ready to take office; with the presidency hanging in the balance, the Texas governor has invited TV crews to his home almost daily to capture him surrounded by an image of his possible future Cabinet, including national security specialist Condoleezza Rice and economics adviser Lawrence Lindsay. But in the case of Card, aides said his presence in Texas last week was more than ceremonial.
''Andy has always been one of the guys the Bushes can turn to in difficult circumstances,'' said Bob Marsh, a government relations specialist at General Motors, where Card is now on leave from his job as director of government affairs. ''He doesn't go for self-promotion. He really avoids it like the plague. He used to call himself the `worst leak in the White House' and that's one of the reasons the Bushes respect him so much.''
In addition to complete loyalty, Card is seen as bringing to the Bush camp a range of chief-of-staff-like qualities: deep political roots, a talent for navigating Capitol Hill corridors, an easygoing personality, and a cool head under pressure.
He is also a moderate - or, at least, ''by no means any kind of right-winger,'' in the words of one former Beacon Hill colleague - a trait that could prove helpful in building alliances with Democrats. Whichever candidate ultimately wins, the narrow margins in the House and Senate will make it necessary for the incoming president to sway members of the opposite party, which colleagues say Card has a history of doing.
Philip Johnston, a Democrat who worked alongside Card in the Massachusetts State House, said he ''would be very encouraged'' by the direction of a Bush White House with Card in a position of power. ''I think it would be a very encouraging sign for all of us in the country if Andy Card were the chief of staff in the White House,'' Johnston said. ''It would give me some confidence that they would avoid ideological conflict with the Democrats, and I think he would argue for moderation and restraint, and, frankly, for many issues I care about, issues affecting poor people, issues affecting women.''
Born in Holbrook, Card comes from a family immersed in politics: His father, the late Andrew Card Sr., was on the local school committee and ran for the Legislature in 1966. His brother, Brad, works as chief of staff to a New York Republican in the US House, Representative John Sweeney. His sister Alison, who works for Governor John Rowland of Connecticut, is married to Ron Kaufman, the Massachusetts committee member of the Republican National Committee and former political director for President Bush.
Card's own political resume starts with the presidency of the class of 1965 at Holbrook High School, followed by four terms on Beacon Hill, where he made his reputation pursuing corruption in the 1970s and '80s. Perhaps his most famous accomplishment was helping to form the Ward Commission, the panel that investigated corruption in the state's building of the University of Massachusetts at Boston campus. After an unsuccessful bid to become Massachusetts governor in 1982, Card become the liaison between state officials and the White House in the Reagan era, then on to the Bush administration, where he served three years as deputy chief of staff before becoming US Secretary of Transportation.
But for all that experience, Bush aides say Card has ingratiated himself with the Texas crowd by deferring to their judgment on important matters. In dealing with younger members of the campaign, he has managed to avoid sounding condescending, aides said, and has never challenged the authority of senior advisers such as Karl Rove or Joe Allbaugh.
''It's a hard balance to strike, between the Washington stuff and the Austin stuff,'' one Bush aide said. ''He's somebody who has been in Washington, but any time he has worked with us, he's a loyal helper. He offers his help without any air about him.''
As the head of Bush's team at the Republican National Convention in July (an event that was widely heralded as a success, and that sent Bush's poll numbers soaring) Card recognized the value of letting the Texas operatives have their say, several GOP aides said.
''I think the reason we wanted Andy to do it is because he respects the people who are running the show,'' another Bush strategist said. ''He knows he has a role to play, but he wasn't the kind of guy who was going to go in there and say, `Hey, I'm in charge, I'm going to be a new power center.'''
