ROVE ISN’T IMPRESSED…. Karl Rove chatted with the New York Times’ Deborah Solomon, and the man the president affectionately called “Turd Blossom” still seems underwhelmed by Barack Obama’s victory last week.
DS: Do you see the election results as a repudiation of your politics?
KR: Our new president-elect won one and a half points more than George W. Bush won in 2004, and he did so, in great respect, by adopting the methods of the Bush campaign and conducting a vast army of persuasion to identify and get out the vote.
DS: But what about your great dream of creating a permanent Republican governing majority in Washington?
KR: I never said permanent. Durable.
I get the sense that Rove might be … what’s the word … jealous. Obama managed to get 365 electoral votes, 79 more than Bush got in 2004. What’s more, Obama’s 52.6% of the popular vote is the highest of any candidate of either party in 20 years, and the highest for a non-incumbent in 56 years. It’s a little tough to downplay.
As for Rove’s vision for the Republican governing majority, it was neither “permanent” nor “durable.” Republicans controlled everything, executed their policy agenda, failed miserably, and got crushed in successive elections — one of which featured Rove’s guarantee of GOP gains.
Don’t go away mad, Karl, just go away.
