ROVE IN DENIAL

Just as he was before the 2006 election, Rove is in denial about his legacy.

'The Mark of Rove'
By PAUL A. GIGOT
August 13, 2007; Page A15
Wall Street Journal

"He will move back up in the polls," says Mr. Rove, who interrupts my reference to Mr. Bush's 30% approval rating by saying it's heading close to "40%," and "higher than Congress."

Looking ahead, he adds, "Iraq will be in a better place" as the surge continues.

He then thought he'd leave after the State of the Union, but the Iraq and immigration fights beckoned. [The immigration fight was another loss]

A big debate among Republicans these days is who bears more blame for 2006 -- Messrs. Bush and Rove, or the behavior of the GOP Congress. Mr. Rove has no doubt. "The sense of entitlement was there" among Republicans, he says, "and people smelled it."

What about that new GOP William McKinley-style majority he hoped to build -- isn't that now in tatters, as the country tilts leftward on security, economics and the culture? Again, Mr. Rove disagrees. He says young people are if anything more pro-life and free-market than older Americans, and that, despite the difficulties in Iraq, the country doesn't want to be defeated there or in the fight against Islamic terror.

He's less persuasive on Medicare, where he insists that market reforms and health savings accounts are building a "critical mass" of popular support that will make them unrepealable.

He also insists that Social Security reform was worth the failed effort, and that Mr. Bush's ideas will be adopted inevitably by some future president.

As for what his own White House mistakes have been, Mr. Rove winces and says, "I'll put my feet up in September and think about that." [Why do they have such a hard time admitting mistakes?]