Matthew Dowd, chief campaign strategist for Bush's 2004 presidential campaign

Dowd, 45, became the first member of Bush's inner circle to break with the president and called for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. Of Bush, Dowd told The New York Times for an article on April 1: "I really like him, which is probably why I’m so disappointed in things ... I think he’s become more, in my view, secluded and bubbled in.''