"I think the legacy is that Karl Rove will be a name that'll be used for a long, long time as an example of how not to do it," - long-time GOP strategist Ed Rollins.A president with an approval rating lower than Nixon's. A Democratic congress, with a likely Dem advantage in the lower chamber next year that can conservatively be estimated at 250, and probably about 57 Dem Senators. Even Alaska, North Carolina, and Kentucky are competitive, senate-wise. And the Republicans are only up by nine in South Carolina in the presidential race. That's nine points in one of the most conservative states in the union. Ya think they're in trouble?
This is what Rove has wrought. It saddens me that now John McCain might look to use Rove's old playbook to try to win this year, but oddly fitting. McCain's response to high-profile failures isn't that we should cut our losses and learn our lessons, it's that we're not doing the thing that causing the failure enough. Iraq is obvious, but plenty of other examples abound (taxes, for one).
