Not showing his Cards

Reporter Jennifer Edwards reports from up north:

Andrew Card gave no inkling late Monday that he would quit this morning when he traveled to Greater Cincinnati to address the Butler County Republican Party. He gave a 40-minute speech before more than 600 members after privately mingling with them downstairs at the Sharonville Convention Center off Chester Road.

Party insiders said today they were just as surprised as everyone else that Card quit.

In his speech Monday, Card widely praised and defended Bush, recalling the first day Bush walked into the Oval Office in January 2001 after being sworn in as President, and the emotion of the week of Sept. 11, 2001.

Card also thanked the crowd Monday for their high turnout in the 2004 Presidential Election, crediting the county's Repubilcan's for returning Bush to the White House.

Many Butler Republicans said afterward that the speech was one of the best the group ever heard at their annual Lincoln Day event. Last year's speaker was Bush's deputy chief of staff, Karl Rove.

In introducing Card, House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester Township, told the crowd that Card rises each day at 4:20 a.m. and starts his day at 5:30 a.m. in the White House. He works until 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. or later each day, depending on the issues of the day and also works eight hours or longer on Saturdays and Sundays.

Scott Owens, executive director of the Butler County Republican Party, sat next to Card as Boehner introduced him.

"He looked over to me and said, 'You know, Mr. Owens, that's very truthful. It takes a very loyal and dedicated person to serve in this role and I do work very, very long hours for the president,'" Owens recalled today.

When Card got up to make his speech, he gave Owens one of his business cards as chief of staff after signing the front of it. Card told Owens to call him if he or the Butler County Republican Party ever needed anything.

"And now instead of helping us, his business card is going to become more of a collector's item now that he is leaving the White House," Owens said today.