Rove's Dilemma

Rove Still in High Spirits

Rove sat down with Mike Allen of the Politico for an hour yesterday and appeared unbowed by all the negative reviews in the wake of his resignation. (See my Monday and Tuesday columns for a sampler.)

"Tributes, even from Republicans, have been rare and almost all were balanced with qualifiers," Allen notes. "But holding forth at Ninfa's restaurant, Rove was unswerving and even a tad mischievous as he previewed the case he will make with conservatives and scholars in his new role as burnisher-in-chief of a beleaguered president's legacy.

"Despite Bush's lagging poll numbers, national unease about the war, the GOP ouster from congressional leadership last year and a 2008 electoral climate that seems to offer few positives, Rove said he believes history eventually will vindicate Bush. One major reason: improvements in reading and math scores since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act -- a piece of legislation that even leading Republicans now view as flawed.

"But Rove acknowledged that a positive view is probably decades away -- and said Bush knows it.

"'I'll rant and rave about the latest editorial abuse from The New York Times and its gross inaccuracies, and the president will say to me, "Don't worry about it: History will get it right, and we'll both be dead,"' Rove said. 'I hope for a long life, but history will judge him kindly."

Rove and Rahm

While savaging Democrats generally, Rove apparently sees one kindred soul across the aisle. As Allen writes, Rove "lavished praised on the House's No. 4 Democrat, Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, who was the party's House campaign chairman in 2006.

"'I think he did a very good job last year,' Rove said. 'He's smart, he's relentless, he's tough. For a member of Congress, he can be awfully mean, which is needed in a position like that sometimes -- chairman of the campaign committee."

Naftali Bendavid blogs for the Tribune Washington bureau that Rove and Emanuel are "two masters of the psychology of politics. . . .

"In addition to instilling confidence in Democratic candidates, the Chicago congressman sought to get inside the heads of Republicans, to persuade them a killer was coming for them. Just as Rove panicked the Democrats, Emanuel wanted to strike fear into the hearts of Republicans."

Rove Derangement Syndrome

Rove's first broadcast interview today will find him in the warm embrace of right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Here's Limbaugh yesterday, railing against the coverage of what he calls the "Drive-By Media:"

"Drive-By meanness is over the top on Karl Rove. The vitriol and hatred was just dripping from Drive-By coverage last night. The level of meanness that you will hear in their voices is staggering. We have Terry Moran of ABC, Chris Lehman of Congressional Quarterly -- this is a montage coming up -- Chris Matthews, Jessica Yellin at CNN, David Wright at ABC, James Moore at PMSNBC, David Gergen, David 'Rodham' Gergen . . . Jim Axelrod of CBS. Dan Abrams of PMSNBC. They're all talking here about Karl Rove's departure.