Good Bye, Karl Rove

While I was holed up in the mountains, far from any news source, I see our good friend Karl Rove has announced his resignation. So this seems as good a time as any to reflect on his legacy, such as it is.

No political operative in recent memory was as reviled by the opposition party as was Karl Rove. Still, give the man his due: it's hard to argue with his electoral successes. After all, he managed to get a certified moron "elected" to the nation's highest office not once, but twice. His "divide and conquer" technique of solidifying the Republican base while refusing compromise with the Democrats forged a solid Republican majority for much of Bush's reign.

Yet, in the end, that tried and true technique failed him and his party. Despite the caging lists, the rigged voting machines and the general electoral chicanery designed to foster a "permanent Republican majority," the public soundly repudiated him and his ilk last November. If not for the rigged system, many of us believe the Republicans would have been completely routed instead of just removed from the majority.

It must have been a tough pill for old Karl to swallow. Now his party is shattered, his "permanent majority" gone, his president has Nixonian approval ratings, his war has gone south and his dream of dismantling the New Deal and the Great Society is finished. What he didn't understand is this: ignoring a large percentage of the electorate just to placate the base only works in the short term. True leaders must at least attempt to engage the oppostition, or face the wrath of the center. By ignoring that reality, Karl Rove has unwittingly doomed the Republicans to the electoral wilderness for at least a generation.

The barbarians are getting ready to storm the gates, Karl, and for the Republicans you so ably got elected -- despite the failed politics of their neo-conservatism -- there will be hell to pay. And in an ultimate irony, Karl, the unitary powers you helped George Bush accumulate are about to be handed to a liberal Democratic president. The joke's on you, Karl. Good bye, and good riddance.