Ex-Bush aide Rove to join Fox News Channel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Karl Rove, the strategist behind President George W. Bush's ascendancy to the White House, will join Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel as a contributor starting with Super Tuesday, the network said.

Rove was chief strategist for Bush's 2000 presidential campaign and joined him in the White House in several capacities, including deputy chief of staff. He left the White House in August.

Rove has been contributing opinion pieces to The Wall Street Journal, which also belongs to Murdoch's NewsCorp, and will debut on the television network with live coverage on Tuesday of the biggest day of the presidential primary election season, Fox said on Monday.

Fox News Channel was the top-rated U.S. cable news network in 2007 in terms of viewership, ahead of rival CNN, according to Broadcasting & Cable magazine.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)