Carville: Rove Cost GOP a Generation

Impressive electoral record aside, Karl Rove's strategy of aggressively courting the GOP base has soured an entire generation on the Republican Party, James Carville argues in the Financial Times. Bill Clinton's storied strategist says "theocratic underpinnings" of Rovian strategy are behind polls showing a nameless Democratic presidential candidate favored by 32% among younger voters.

Allowing Rove to chart the course on the campaign trail led to unprecedented success, Carville writes; allowing Rove to move into the Bush White House as a policy-maker has spelled disaster for the GOP among young voters. Rove's "placement of literally thousands of ideologically driven buffoons" in government leaves Republican prospects bleak indeed in 2008. (More Karl Rove stories.)