Post-Rovian Thinking

"Rove, by contrast, noted that turning out core supporters is as important to winning as attracting new converts. A candidate wins the loyalty of core supporters by taking controversial stands and sticking with them -- another hallmark of Bush's presidency.

"Bush's willingness to stick to his guns has won him respect. But it also has driven a wedge through the country in a post-9/11 period when a political consensus similar to that of the Cold War seemed not only possible but likely."

Rove: It's the Democrats' Fault

In interviews yesterday, Rove repeatedly denied that he advocated divisive politics.

John D. McKinnon and Jackie Calmes write in the Wall Street Journal: "In a telephone interview from Air Force One as he flew with the president to Texas, Mr. Rove dismissed the widely held image of himself as a political divider. 'I love the myth that the nature of politics as practiced by us . . . is focusing on a narrow group,' he said. In fact, he said, 'it's been taking the energy of those [in the base] and building on it and expanding it outward.' He is glad Democrats have taken the notion seriously, however, because 'it's gotten people saying, 'We should be focusing on the base of our party, like MoveOn.org and the Pink Ladies,' Mr. Rove said, the latter a reference to a women's antiwar group called Code Pink."

Conservative San Francisco Chronicle columnist Debra J. Saunders asked Rove yesterday why he thought Bush failed to achieve his promise to be a uniter not a divider. Rove blamed it on the Democrats.

"'I think a number of Democrats never accepted (Bush) as legitimate and instead adopted a strategy of blind obstructionism,' he answered.

"Moreover, some Democrats 'hated' Bush, and they were joined by a group of Democrats who 'for tactical reasons, said that we can never give (Bush) a political victory, and anything that passes any part of his agenda is a political victory for him and we can't tolerate that.' . . .

"Did the Bush administration try hard enough to reach across the aisle?

"'You know, you'd be shocked and surprised to learn how much the president reached out to Democrats,' Rove said.

"Rove faults the Democrats for their using a 'deeply personal' tone."

Rove's Personality

Holly Bailey writes in Newsweek: "Privately, Rove was considered a man to be feared, by both Democrats and Republicans. Members of Congress, always anonymously, whispered about Rove's threats and intimidation when it came to backing Bush's policies. Rep. Tom Tancredo, one of the few Republicans to publicly complain about Rove, told reporters about a 2002 run-in with Bush's strategist over immigration reform. Tancredo, who opposes Bush's plan, told Newsweek Rove warned him 'never to darken the doorstep of the White House again' after he went on TV to bash immigration reform."

John Dickerson writes in Slate: "Rove can be expected to paint a heroic self-portrait in the memoir he is now said to be writing. It seems unlikely he'll fare as well in the accounts of his colleagues. Though Rove sometimes drew up reading lists for lower-level staffers or gave them advice on places to go on vacation in Texas, he will be better remembered for intermittently exploding into purple-faced rages. To talk off-the-record to senior White House aides over the years about their constant, relentless battles with Rove was like listening in on marriage counseling. Many people inside and outside the White House feared Rove, a number of them truly admired him (professionally and personally), but of very few can it be said that they ever trusted him."