So, I was wondering what, if anything, my good friend Karl Rove is up to these days. I mean, he just had his fat ass handed to him in the midterms and I kind of assume he’s a little less popular…perhaps a little less influential. But, maybe not:

Since the November election, Rove has been promoting the contrarian idea that the Republicans lost their majorities in the House and Senate not because of Bush’s unpopularity or because voters turned against the Iraq war but because congressional Republicans didn’t sufficiently live up to their core ideals, such as a commitment to spending restraint, a muscular foreign policy, and strict ethics. In other words, associates say, Rove is arguing that the GOP lost control because congressional Republicans weren’t conservative enough.

White House insiders say Bush is counting on Rove, who is the president’s main political adviser and deputy chief of staff, to define “common ground” in dealing with the Democrats who now control Congress. In Rove’s view, that means the White House shouldn’t stray too far from the conservative base and should continue making policy from the political right–and not give too much ground to the Democrats. Rove argues privately that the Dems should also reach out to the White House and that Bush shouldn’t do most of the compromising. One of Rove’s theories is that the Democrats can be maneuvered into a series of difficult choices next year as they try to enact their legislative agenda and pass the federal budget.

The central choice, according to Rove, will be to cut spending or raise taxes. If congressional Democrats cut spending, their liberal base will be alienated. If they raise taxes, rank-and-file voters will be unhappy. GOP insiders suspect that Rove also had a big hand in distancing Bush from the Iraq Study Group because he believed the bipartisan panel was too critical of current Iraq policy. Rove, insiders say, believes that victory is still achievable and that Bush should pursue it as vigorously as he can. The president made those points at his news conference today.

Call me a crazy liberal, but that all sounds like really bad advice. I don’t know what Josh Bolten is telling the President, but if he is listening to Rove, it explains why is burying himself.

If I had the ear of the President I’d be telling him to emulate Clinton and triangulate. He’ll score more points by doing something popular among liberals and moderates than he will by bucking up an ever shrinking base. But, Bush seems intent on destroying himself. So I suppose he’ll continue to listen to Rove until the federal marshals arrive and remove him from office.