I can’t get too excited about Karl Rove’s imminent departure from the White House. I think James Joyner is exactly correct: it’s long over due.
I’ve always felt that the attacks on Rove were misdirected—more attention should have been devoted to the President himself, less to his underlings. That’s the way a narrative that’s strayed somewhat from the observeable facts can tie you into knots. Although there are very, very few ways in which one can compare George W. Bush to Ronald Reagan, one that I think is fair is that both were personally underestimated during their presidencies. I think that lots and lots of things that have been attributed to Karl Rove or Dick Cheney or whomever are actually Bush himself. Has no one ever heard of a lightning rod?
I’m onboard with your comment, Dave- thanks for the perspective. Kevin Drum wrote this about Rove, which is accurate as well: “I suspect the answer here is that Rove never truly had a lot of political acumen. He had campaign acumen. He was good at winning elections, but not at much else.