The political savvy of Karl Rove helped elect John Ashcraft, Bill Clements, John Cornyn, Rick Perry and Phil Gramm.  He is given credit for electing the first Republican governor in Texas in over 100 years, a feat of no small stature for someone who is not even from the state.
     The strategist grew up in a broken home and claimed to be a nerd/type debate team member in high school.  Even at that young age he had devoted himself to getting state and local figures elected to office.  He once pulled a campaign stunt himself surrounded by attractive girls in a convertible seeking elected office in his public high school.  Rove never finished college but is known as an avid reader.  He is adapt at learning what makes people vote and how to push the right buttons to entice folks to vote for his candidate, or against the other.  One Texas author noted that Rove grew up dreaming of becoming a presidential advisor. To some, he became more than even an advisor.
     Dallas journalist Wayne Slater wrote the popular book, Bush's Brain.  Slater sent me an autographed copy of the book.  The manuscript makes the claim that Rove is the instigator of just about everything that went on in the Whitehouse during the reign of the President. The work makes the point that on many issues and causes the President didn't have much of a clue about what was taking place and the brains behind the agenda which began with the election, resided in Karl Rove. Slater wrote, "Bush is the product. Rove is the marketer.  One cannot succeed wihtout the other."  Slater has drawn the wrath of Rove on more than one occasion. Rove has cussed him in public. Slater claims Rove has a tendency to bully the press.
     Making accusations about opponents appears to be a habit with Karl.  In Texas it is often mentioned that there were nasty rumors spread in the state that then governor Ann Richards was a lesbian.  Rove denied fostering such whispers, but many think he was the source.  Some suggest it was this very rumor, spread in East Texas, that got Bush elected as governor.  There were other Texas politicians who left behind a blood trail from the stinging tactics of Rove according to Slater.
     Some suggested that bugging tactics were used in Texas.  Which makes the story interesting since Rove has been linked by some in the Watergate conspiracy.  John Dean claims that investigators were interested in talking to Rove in the Watergate epic that led to Nixon's resignation.  Like most of these events, Rove tended to escape unscathed.
     One note of interest is the FBI incident at Ruby Ridge with an agent Greg Rampton.  Rampton admitted on the witness stand that the FBI tampered with evidence in the death of Randy Weaver. Friends with Rove, Rampton was involved in the famous plot with the Texas Department of Agriculture. This was yet another case Rove was connected to and led to a political victory.
     Karl spread the word on the political campaign trail in Texas that his candidate's  opponent had supported Jesse Jackson for President.  This hit a familiar vein in East Texas and helped launch another man into the governor's office.  As early as 1970 Rove admits to a "youthful prank" in which he broke into a Democratic politician's office and used letterhead stationary to pass out wrong information.
     Rove's connection to Marvin Olasky, the Christian right magazine editor, is noteworthy.  Another friend and colleague was Ken Lay of Enron fame. Slater's take on Karl Rove is that his standard is the election. He is unwilling to consider a policy that puts any votes at risk.  Karl's standard is politics, not morality.  Bill Moyers wondered out loud how the religious right could be so in love with a man who claimed to be an agnostic.
     Karl Rove has been connected with many ethical and legal issues that have come close to closure, but he found a way out.  There was the Valerie Plame outing that jeopardized an intelligence network.  There was the Bush email and the dismissal of U.S. attorneys.
     The famous episode in South Carolina that launched Bush to a lead over John McCain in the GOP political primary is noteworthy.  Sources said to be linked to Karl whispered that McCain was gay, sold out to the enemy during prison in Hanoi and had a black child out of wedlock.  McCain appears to have held no grudges against Bush for the rumors.  Which might explain that he blamed them on the brains behind the campaign.
     In 1992 Rove was reportedly fired from then President Bush's campaign for planting a story using Robert Novak.  This was one of the few times the Bush family didn't play along.
     Perhaps under fire for such activities that were catching up with him,  Rove resigned his official roll as advisor to the next President Bush.  He claimed at the time he needed to spend more time with his family.  He would shortly divorce his wife, his second divorce.  Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times wondered at how a man who is unchurched and often divorced claims family values and faith based connections.
     Rutten wrote a review of Rove's new book, My Life as a Conservative in the Fight.  Rutten commented that the book is partisan and not an impartial review of the facts of history.  Others in the nation claim the book is filled with lies.  In the book Rove attacks the patriotism of Nancy Pelosi saying she doesn't back CIA agents.  Karl doesn't believe the Geneva Convention applies to treatment of prisoners since they are not combatants.  Waterboarding, Rove noted, is not torture. In the book Rove offers no apologies for  going to war in Iraq without the intelligence proof of weapons of mass destruction.  Rove spoke out on the abondoning of Trent Lott because Trent recanted his stand against Affirmative action. In Rove's world, that justified Lott's punishment.  Even allies can find the wrath of those who betray the contributors to the treasury of the party.
     Rutten ended his review by stating.  "Its worth wondering just how much of our current political disocntent grows out of the dominance of both sides of the aisle of men and women, like Rove, whose only serious experience of American life is politics itself."  Wayne Salter put it this way, "In the fullness of his accomplishments, Karl Rove has raised a new distrubing question for American voters and their republic:  Who really runs this country"?
     Karl Rove evidently has the wisdom of the serpent, but it appears he lacks the innocence of the dove.

Sources:
Wayne Slater, BUSH'S BRAIN, John Wiley & Sons, 2003.
Tim Rutten, "An Unexamined Life:;  Rove's Curious Memoir". L.A. Times 2010.
www,.huffingtonpost.org   see Rove
www.wikipedia.org
Washington Post, Jan. 15, 2002.
www.rightweb.org Aug. 15, 2007
Wayne Madgen, Counter Punch Magazine, Nov. 1, 2002.