By Staff
For a guy often hailed as the greatest political strategist in American history, Karl Rove was sure wrong a lot, from his 2000 prediction that George W. Bush would thump Al Gore with at least 320 electoral votes to his delusional insistence in 2006 that Republicans would keep control of Congress.
Sure, Democrat James Carville, who found fame in Bill Clinton's war room, dubbed Rove's achievement of winning a second term for President George W. Bush "the signature political achievement of my lifetime."
But Rove believed he produced a winning formula for a "durable Republican majority" to rival Democrats' dominance of half of the 20th century.
But he proved superior at campaigning, not governing.
"I just think it's time," Rove said of his surprising decision to step down as Bush's senior political adviser at the end of August.
GOP legislators seemed happy to be on recess so they weren't hounded for reaction.
Richard Viguerie, one of the founding fathers of the modern conservative movement, had a telling observation.
"In politics, nobody was better. At policy he was a disaster."
Maybe that White House crossover was when Rove's troubles started.
Republicans found themselves back in the minority on Capitol Hill after the 2006 midterm election and gnawing their fingernails since about how confident Democrats feel about their prospects of reacquiring the Oval Office in 2008.
The Iraq war is well into its fifth year. Hurricane Katrina two years ago burst the bubble about the Bush administration's competence and concern.
While the President's positive ratings have dipped to 32 percent, they remain more than twice as high as the Democratic Congress.
The big domestic policies for which Rove was directly responsible include the expensive expansion of Medicare, Bush's stymied Social Security reform through partial privatization and immigration reform, the national security issue nobody seems capable of solving.
Republicans lag far behind Democrats even in fundraising.
The GOP is on the ropes for the first time since Ronald Reagan brought morning to America in 1981.
Sure, Rove didn't invade Iraq or commit too few troops to secure the country, but he had no problem exploiting the war for political gain by promoting the theme that unpatriotic Democrats couldn't be trusted to protect America.
Rove's record is rich with polarization because of his penchant for demonizing the opposition to keep the GOP conservative base well-fed with red meat.
The 2006 election might have not gone so badly for Republicans had Rove not turned it into a referendum on Bush and the war.
The GOP might also wish soon it had not alienated moderates so thoroughly because of the crossover appeal of such candidates as Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney.
Obit: Michael Deaver, the adviser who shaped President Reagan's image for 20 years and created the "photo op," died of pancreatic cancer. He was 69.
As White House deputy chief of staff during Reagan's first term, Deaver orchestrated every public appearance with an eye to packaging the former actor's presidential image for TV cameras. "I've always said the only thing I did is light him well," Deaver said. "My job was to fill up the space around the head. I didn't make Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan made me."
Deaver was subsequently convicted of three of five counts of perjury for lying to Congress and a federal grand jury about his lobbying business in 1987. He blamed his judgment lapses on alcoholism.
His clients included former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Microsoft and Wal-Mart.