An article from Time shows that Scott McClellan didn't want to resign before the midterm elections, but he knew it was only a matter of time before someone (Bolten) asked him to do so.
McClellan, who began working for Bush in the Texas Governor'’s office in 1999, was one of the few people left in the West Wing known as "family" -- put in his job because he was beloved by the President and because longtime confident Karen Hughes wanted him there. Like Bolten's predecessor, Andrew H. Card Jr., McClellan did not want to go. Although he had talked to colleagues sporadically about departing as long as a year ago, he had planned to stay until after the midterm election. Friends said he had gotten the internal signal and wanted to get it over with, to short-circuit the craziness of having to refuse to speculate about himself from the podium.
And as quickly as that article came out, White House scribes ran to the presses to proclaim that McClellan was not forced.
Several scribes noted that President Bush would have little reason to request McClellan's departure, given that he took the media's heat well, did not provide any serious gaffes, and stuck to the administration's message of the day. One reporter did express uncertainty about whether McClellan was pushed out.
Tags: [Scott McClellan], [White House shake-up], [Scott McClellan did not want to resign], [White House scribes race to prove that McClellan was not forced]
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