Revered, reviled Republican Rove still in hot demand

WASHINGTON — Karl Rove has inspired a generation of Republican imitators, Democratic vilifiers and, in this election, a term that has reached full-on political buzzword status: "Rovian."

As in, this presidential campaign has been rife with "Rovian tactics" in recent days. This essentially means aggressive tactics — or dirty, in the view of Democrats, who use the term often, and not lovingly.

"John McCain has gone Karl Rovian," Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. said at a recent campaign stop, a variation on a standard stump line from Sen. Barack Obama's running mate.

Karl Rove, of course, is the revered and reviled Republican maestro who has become ubiquitous in his new career as a commentator, columnist and conversation-starter. He left the Bush administration 13 months ago, yet continues to loom over a campaign that has become the backdrop for his post-White House reinvention.

Appearing on Fox News after Tuesday's presidential debate, Rove said Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska had done a "very good job" of bringing up Obama's past associations to the 1960s-era radical William Ayers, a guilt-by-association tactic that many Democrats decried, naturally, as "Rovian."

Last weekend, Rove said on his Web site, Rove.com, that Obama, of Illinois, based on a compilation of recent polling, would win 273 electoral votes — enough to defeat Sen. John McCain of Arizona. While polls had shown the momentum swinging to Obama, to hear the so-called architect of the Bush presidency saying so was deemed a watershed development among political insiders.

"His name seems as pervasive now as it ever was," Dan Bartlett, the former senior counselor to President Bush, said of Rove.

Indeed he does — even though the patron with whom Rove will always be tied, Bush, owns some of the lowest presidential-approval ratings ever; even though the "Republican realignment" Rove once envisioned seems a far-off fantasy.

But Rove's lingering impact, perceived power and even his bogyman status continue to place him in great demand, forming the basis of his lucrative post-White House career as a reported seven-figure author, six-figure television commentator and mid-five-figure speaker.

He was in Philadelphia on Monday for a "debate" with former Sen. Max Cleland, the Georgia Democrat who lost an arm and two legs in Vietnam. Cleland lost his 2002 re-election bid after his Republican opponent, Saxby Chambliss, questioned his commitment to domestic security, running an advertisement featuring likenesses of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Many Democrats remain bitter over that defeat, for which Cleland still largely blames Rove.

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