Karl Rove's Dying Dream

Under the banner of Slate, Jacob Weisberg's brief and sharp analysis of the way President Bush has painted himself into a corner is a must-read. Here's a sample:

"The problem has become clear with Bush's difficulties in filling Sandra Day O'Connor's slot on the Supreme Court. The Harriet Miers nomination was an attempt to satisfy both the militant conservative base and the eternally moderate American electorate. With the Alito nomination, Bush has acknowledged that splitting this difference is impossible. Faced with a choice, he has chosen, once again, to dance with the ones who brought him. But by appointing a superconservative, Bush risks propelling his increasingly beleaguered administration even further toward the right-hand margin—a place where his party cannot win future national elections. Bush aims to be the Second Coming of Ronald Reagan. But he has never understood the genius of Reagan's method, which was to placate the religious right without giving in where it mattered."

Weisberg's piece, subtitled "So much for the permanent Republican majority," also offers some interesting observations about much-in-the-news Karl Rove and his yesteryear hero -- the 1890's Ohio pol, Mark Hanna. This is good stuff. Click here to read the piece.