Unkie Herb

The mastermind behind George Bush’s two victories in Presidential elections wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal. In it, he is startlingly one-sided.

Just not for the side you’d expect.

No, Rove supports Clinton in his piece, a surprising development considering his scathing criticisms of her in the past. He compliments her campaign and her newfound emotion. He asserts that the oh so smoothly delivered tears in Manchester, N.H. (a town she went on to win by a large margin) were “humanizing and appealing. And unlike her often contrived and calculated attempts to appear down-to-earth, this was real.”

As he moves on to her criticisms of Obama, Rove joins in the fray: “He is often lazy, given to misstatements and exaggerations and, when he doesn’t know the answer, too ready to try to bluff his way through.”

Why support Hilldog, Karl? Could it have been a genuine analysis of the Dem race? No… Surely this was a calculating move by a man who understands electoral politics way too well.

So what’s the ploy?

Perhaps he realizes that Clinton will be easier to swing independents and perhaps even some Democrats away from. Perhaps Obama scares him. So he encourages her victory with a supporting op-ed piece.

But that seems too simple for a man of Rove’s conniving genius.

Maybe its reverse psychology. Maybe he really hates Hillary and worries about the Republican candidate’s chances against her. Maybe he knows that Karl Rove’s support is a gut shot in Democratic politics - it won’t kill you right away, but it could lead to some internal bleeding. If Obama’s people pick up on it, couldn’t they use it against her?

Either way, interesting stuff from a usually ‘behind the curtains’ fella.

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