Karl Rove
9/16/2010

Rove is surprised that in just 20 months Obama has lost control of his presidency’s narrative. It’s too late for the president to turn John Boehner into the Gingrich of 2010. And while Obama’s personal attacks on the GOP leader may be therapeutic for him and send a thrill up the leg of left-wingers, it has cost him (and his party) dearly with independents and college-educated voters. In a little more than a year and a half, the president has lost a third of his support among independents, many of whom are ready to punish Democrats at the polls. It is too late for Obama to do a makeover before the midterms. For the country’s sake Rove hopes the midterms bring about real hope and change at the White House.

Rove, the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, is the author of “Courage and Consequence” (Threshold Editions, 2010).

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