Mayberry Machiavelli: On the Rise and Fall of Karl Rove

Karl Rove is no more. In fact, the idea of Karl Rove has been dead for some time now. There came a time when Rove's hubris and absolute confidence in his own strategies failed to match up with actual results. In 2006, Rove blithely predicted that the GOP would hold on to Congress. If Rove had been right again, his legend would have only grown. But as it was, Rove's confidence now just makes him look clueless. A worthwhile question is whether Rove was ever actually the wizard he has been made out to be. What exactly did Karl Rove accomplish? Looking at Bush's winning Presidential campaign, it seems clear that the answer can only be "not much." Rove delivered two of the narrowest election victories in the history of the United States. His strategy of "polarization" accomplished absolutely nothing for conservatism, and in the long run has only strengthened the hand of the Democratic party. A Bush victory in 2004 was probably better for the Democratic party (though not for the world) than a Bush defeat. After seven years of the "Boy Genius" at work, the Dems are in a much better position than they were when they held the White House. America's political discourse, on issues from health care to the environment to gay rights to defense, has moved substantially to the left in these past seven years. A March poll from the Pew Research Center showed that 50 per cent of Americans identify as Democrats while only 35 per cent say they are Republican. A June NBC-Wall Street Journal poll showed 52 per cent of Americans would prefer a Democratic president while only 31 per cent would support a Republican, the largest gap in the 20-year history of the survey. Of course, we shouldn't give Deputy Chief of Staff Rove more credit than he is due. Putting American Conservatism in disarray was a job that could have only been accomplished by a good team effort. So to all of you out there, from the neocons to the theocrats, who showed the USA the wonders of governance form the right, I would just like to send out a heartfelt thank you.