You Can't Blame the Man for Everything

Rove's political genius helped GOP grow, says Weekly Standard
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 14, 2007 7:28 PM CDT
You Can't Blame the Man for Everything
President Bush, right, and outgoing White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, walk towards reporters to make a statement on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Aug. 13, 2007. Karl Rove, President Bush's close friend and chief political strategist, plans to leave the White House...   (Associated Press)

The media crowned him with a wizard's hat and now they’re knocking it off, saying they just don’t feel the magic anymore. But Rove was never a magician, always an adviser, and usually a brilliant one, argues the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes. After all, he steered Bush through four political victories and sprinkled just enough magic dust to help the GOP grow.

“The greatest political mind…probably of any generation” made his best move in 2004, Barnes argues, sparking the country’s right wing and charming middle-of-the-roaders to join their cause. But he couldn't conjure up anything for Iraq and a GOP cursed with corruption, and who can blame him? Some sleight of hand is beyond even Bush's "Boy Genius." (More Karl Rove stories.)

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