They are right about Karl Rove

Fred Barnes:

THE LEFTIES AND THE MEDIA are right about Karl Rove. That's why they're in a dither now that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has cleared Rove of any criminal wrongdoing in the overblown leak case involving CIA functionary Valerie Plame. The left and the mainstream press know three things about Rove: (1) He's the most influential White House aide ever; (2) his influence is almost always in a conservative direction; and (3) his downfall is (or was) key to bringing down the presidency of George W. Bush.

Many conservatives have never warmed to Rove, perhaps recalling his reputation as a Texas political consultant who could teach it round or teach it flat. They appreciate him merely in the sense that the enemy of their enemy is their friend. And Rove, as the indispensable aide to Bush, is certainly the enemy of the left and the media.

Keep in mind the media's unspoken goal since Vietnam and Watergate. It is, as Michael Barone wrote in the Wall Street Journal, to "undermine" faith in America's leaders, especially the president, and even more so a conservative president. This explains the two questions about Rove at Bush's press conference last week.

Fitzgerald's decision not to seek an indictment of Rove was insufficient for the press. "Even if Karl Rove did nothing illegal," Bush was asked, "I wonder whether you can say now whether you approve of his conduct in the CIA leak episode and do you believe he owes [former press secretary] Scott McClellan or anyone else an apology for misleading them?" Bush ducked the question.

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What if Rove had been indicted and forced to resign? The White House wouldn't have come unhinged. But its effectiveness in policy and politics would have been significantly diminished. Besides shaping the election strategy for the entire Republican party, Rove is the most important player at the White House, after the president, on both policy and politics. My rule of thumb is that whenever you think you've found an issue or project or concern at the White House (outside foreign policy) where Rove isn't involved--you're wrong. He's involved in some way or other, and, from a conservative standpoint, usually for the better.

Rove's all-inclusive reach makes him sui generis. There's never been another like him on a president's staff. "He's bigger than [Lee] Atwater on the political side and bigger than [Richard] Darman on the policy side," says Jeffrey Bell, a member of the American Conservative Union's board of directors. Darman worked in the Reagan and elder Bush's administrations, and Atwater was the elder Bush's political adviser. But no one said of either Darman or Atwater what a Bush aide says of Rove: "On the big policies, Karl is the sun and everyone else is the moon."

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There is more. Rove's ability to frame the debate is what bothers the Democrats and the media the most. They think it is unfair, but they cannot frame a response that is acceptable to the voters. The current debate over Iraq is a good example. The Democrats and the media liberals thought Iraq was going to be a winning issue for them and they now find themselves on teh defensive trying to explain how they can win a war through retreat. If you look at the way the Republican's framed the issue this week on the war, the Democrats look like the clear losers, and the media is shaking its collective heads in wonder again.