Karl Rove leaves his job as President Bush’s longtime political adviser today, but not before his White House colleagues played a farewell prank on him.

When he returned from New Orleans with Mr Bush yesterday, he found his black Jaguar – parked in the West Executive Avenue a few yards from the Oval Office – wrapped in plastic with an “I love Barack Obama” sticker on it.

The car also had twin stuffed toy eagles mounted on its boot, and a fluffy elephant on the bonnet. The elephant is the symbol of the Republican Party. Mr Obama, a leading Democrat candidate for the 2008 presidential race, is unlikely to get Mr Rove’s endorsement.

Mr Rove, who charted Mr Bush’s political rise since they first met in 1973, discovered the prank shortly after returning to the White House. Wearing a big smile, he began unwrapping the car. He received some help from a few children who had visited the White House to watch the arrival of the President on the South Lawn in the Marine One helicopter.

Mr Rove seemed to assign blame for the prank on Al Hubbard, chairman of Mr Bush’s National Economic Council. He playfully pointed at Mr Hubbard while the children ripped off the plastic wrap. It is very unlikely to have been the handiwork of Democrats. They have subpoenaed Mr Rove to give testimony before Congress about his role in the dismissal of nine government lawyers. He has cited executive privilege and refuses to testify.

Mr Rove is reviled as well as feared by Democrats. But inside the White House he was a relentlessly upbeat presence who cracked jokes and bounded about the West Wing. His day-to-day relationship with journalists was often characterised by wisecracks.

Joke House

President Coolidge – who was known as ‘Silent Cal’ for his taciturnity – belied his severe reputation by often playing pranks on his staff. One of them was to press all the buttons on his desk, then hide behind the door as Secret Service agents, secretaries, military aides and all the other other support staff streamed in

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