Do we want our own Karl Rove?

"I don’t have a Karl Rove. I don’t want a Karl Rove." -- John Edwards, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, when asked who would be his Karl Rove in an Edwards administration. (hat tip politicalwire)

Karl Rove is anathema to most Democrats and progressives. He is Roveldemort to many Americans, the Rasputin to George W Bush.

As I discussed in a previous entry, Hillary is running the most Rove-like campaign with tight messaging and few (unplanned) media leaks.

Natch, Edwards has to say that he doesn't have or want a Karl Rove, and indeed this is in line with his Two Americas theme. Rove clearly serves the dominant America, the United States of the wealthy, powerful, and elite. He accomplishes much through conniving, some might say illegal and unlawful ways. And he hammers through his agenda like no one else's business (in the short term, at least.)

Here we stand at the sunset of the Rove-Bush administration, with Rove leaving town with few fond farewells from even the GOP, having orchestrated a political takeover worthy of many military strategists. (Hopefully he's not leaving to engineer more evil deeds as a separate entity from the White House, so that Bush can't be complicit in his 1,000,000,001th diabolic scheme.)

So do we want a Machiavellian Democratic political consultant to usher in quick changes? Eradicate the conservative backlash that Rove, Atwater, et al have been brewing for decades? Cos you know, I think Mark Penn is Hillary's Rove. And I'm not sure I would want him on my side. But one might argue that you fight water with water, muck with muck.

I guess my question is why don't you just get a super spray gun and blast the muck away?

Karl Rove leaves White House

So political savant and evilmeister Karl Rove is leaving the cushy job of White House deputy chief in staff (aka, chief tormentor of the people.) But, just so you know, this has nothing to do with investigations, wiretapping, treason, or anything of the sort, mmmm-kay? Rove is just a patriot who has served the will of the Republican regime for longer than time has existed. The wunder-brain also leaves the executive privilege clause behind and goes on to see his empire crash and burn, and this leaving signals the definite end of the WH's ability to pass major policy changes. Rove was the once behind trying to bring Latinos into the party, behind No Child Left Behind, and all sorts of horrific policy blunders. His vision, according to the Atlantic Monthly (via Kos):

Instead, Rove’s idea was to use the levers of government to create an effect that ordinarily occurs only in the most tumultuous periods in American history. He believed he could force a realignment himself through a series of far-reaching policies. Rove’s plan had five major components: establish education standards, pass a "faith-based initiative" directing government funds to religious organizations, partially privatize Social Security, offer private health-savings accounts as an alternative to Medicare, and reform immigration laws to appeal to the growing Hispanic population. Each of these, if enacted, would weaken the Democratic Party by drawing some of its core supporters into the Republican column. His plan would lead, he believed, to a period of Republican dominance like the one that followed McKinley’s election.

Rove failed on many counts, and succeeded on too many others. Thank god he's going, and hopefully he's not returning to Texas to redistrict more minorities out.

I also played a really fun online redistricting game. Educational and entertaining all at once - you can play a Democratic or Republican mastermind who does the bidding of the party elders. (Not unlike Rovoldermort.)