Some Legacy

The reactions to the resignation of Karl Rove have been about as predictable as you'd expect. Some on the right wing has praised his ability to get George W. Bush elected and some have gone as far to say that Mr. Rove "transformed" politics in America, pointing to the fact that before he helped Mr. Bush get elected, Texas was a Democratic state and now it's not. This ignores the fact that at the time, Texas Democrats were not to be confused with other Democrats, i.e. pro-labor, pro-diversity, or progressive. They were the last bastion of the Southern Democrats, a hold-over from the party that opposed Reconstruction, which was led by the Republicans. Grover Norquist goes as far to say that Karl Rove "changed history." True. So did Napoleon and the bubonic plague. Mr. Norquist also sees Mr. Rove's legacy as far-reaching:

Rove's vision of the modern Republican Party as the dominant governing power will perhaps take longer to establish than he had hoped. But it is more likely and will come sooner for his life and work.

Others on the right are not so generous. Andrew Sullivan, who long ago lost any hope that the Bush administration would be conservative according to his measure, said,

Rove is one of the worst political strategists in recent times. He took a chance to realign the country and to unite it in a war - and threw it away in a binge of hate-filled niche campaigning, polarization and short-term expediency. His divisive politics and elevation of corrupt mediocrities to every branch of government has turned an entire generation off the conservative label. And rightly so. It will take another generation to recover from the toxins he has injected, with the president's eager approval, into the political culture and into the conservative soul.

The Democrats are, not surprisingly, happy to see him go, including Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post:

Buh-bye, Karl Rove. On your way out of the White House, don't let the screen door hit you where the dog should have bit you.

I can't say that I'll miss George W. Bush's longtime political strategist -- the man Bush used to call "Boy Genius" -- because, well, that would be such a lie. And anyway, to quote one of the great country song titles -- "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?" -- I don't believe for a minute that Rove really intends to withdraw from public life. I predict he'll be writing op-eds, giving interviews to friendly news outlets and calling Republican presidential candidates to warn them not to abandon Bush, no matter how low his approval ratings slide. Rove's new job will be to put lipstick on Bush's hideous legacy -- and, in the process, freshen up his own.

And the Congressional Democrats are sure to follow him with process servers and a lot of questions about just what he did to whom and whether or not it was legal. And there's a lot of speculation on whether or not Mr. Rove, ever the strategist, will end up working in some capacity for the 2008 GOP nominee in spite of death threats from his wife. As it is, he has plenty of his well-trained minions already out there, so he may -- for once -- be true to his word and stay on the sidelines.

What's telling about all of these reactions is the projection that goes into them. Karl Rove is not the Great Satan that some of us on the progressive side have portrayed him, nor is he the Savior that some on the right wanted him to be. He's just a political operative with good instincts, a streak of viciousness and ruthlessness, and, as is the case of a lot of these consultants, an inability to see when the campaign ends and the work begins. That will be his legacy as well, and it will be a part of the Republican image for a long time. He transformed the sunny optimism of Ronald Reagan conservatism where voters were attracted to him because he offered, however dillusionally, hope and a Mom's-apple-pie vision of the future. Rove turned that on its head by intimidation and demonization; basically saying that if you didn't vote for the Republicans you would be responsible for doom, destruction, gay marriage, and Islamic terrorists collecting the tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike. So much for the shining city on the hill.

It's safe to say that without Karl Rove there would have been no George W. Bush beyond a brief mention in his father's presidential biography. But it's also true that without George W. Bush's complete lack of interest in anything beyond what can give him power to rule other people and lord it over them and the inability do more than give lip service to the idea of public service, someone like Karl Rove would never have achieved the place he did. Any other president with an ounce of morality, fairness, and the desire to make the world a better place would have fired his ass long ago.