Rove's Ravings

So now that Karl Rove is no longer under the cloud of possible indictment in the Valerie Plame "outing" case, he has come back full steam. This is entirely unfortunate since he seems to confuse campaigns with policy. Campaigns are energetic, strident, uncompromising and sometimes brutal. Public policy needs to be thoughtful, calm, methodic and forward-thinking. His idea of public policy takes the worst part of the campaign mentality and applies it to all policy moves. Hence the rise of partisan politics all year round. And today, the House is seeking to hold a non-binding resolution about the war in Iraq, again confusing campaign rhetoric with policy. This kind of resolution does nothing to further any kind of reasoned debate about our strategy. It simply forces members of the House to an up or down vote on the President and is a waste of taxpayer money.

This is all too bad since it also affects how we talk to each other about policy; sometimes I find that any conversation I have with my Republican friends is like having a conversation with an AM Talk Radio host or with O'Reilly; combative and zero-sum. I really hate this. I hope that members of both parties will start to see Rove for a great campaigner and a piss-poor policy person.