Karl Rove says Iraq wasn't reason for 2006 loss

Karl Rove with his perfect hindsight says the nearly 70% unfavorable
poll numbers weren't the reason the Republicans lost the 2006
elections, it was the candidates and their ties to Washington. Duh.

Novak plays sock puppet again, a practice he should have learned is
dangerous by now, and gives us:


Rove's Diagnosis
By Robert D. Novak
Saturday, July 28, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Karl Rove, President Bush's political lieutenant, told a
closed-door meeting of 2008 Republican House candidates and their
aides Tuesday that it was less the war in Iraq than corruption in
Congress that caused their party's defeat in the 2006 elections.

Rove's clear advice to the candidates is to distance themselves from
the culture of Washington. Specifically, Republican candidates are
urged to make clear they have no connection with disgraced congressmen
such as Duke Cunningham and Mark Foley.

In effect, Rove was rebutting the complaint inside the party that
George W. Bush is responsible for Republican miseries by invading
Iraq.
<snip>


November 1, 2006
Iraq War Frames '06 Vote in Last Poll Before Election
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MEGAN THEE

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 - A substantial majority of Americans expect
Democrats to reduce or end American military involvement in Iraq if
they win control of Congress next Tuesday, and say Republicans would
maintain or increase troop levels to try to win the war if they hold
on to power on Capitol Hill, according to the final New York Times/CBS
News poll before the midterm election.

The poll found that just 29 percent of Americans approve of the way
President Bush is managing the war in Iraq, matching the lowest mark
of his presidency. Nearly 70 percent of Americans said Mr. Bush did
not have a plan to end the war, and an overwhelming 80 percent said
Mr. Bush's latest effort to rally public support for the conflict
amounted to a change in language but not policy.

The poll underlined the extent to which the war has framed the midterm
elections. Americans cited Iraq as the most important issue affecting
their vote, and majorities of Republicans and Democrats said they
wanted a change in the government's approach to the war. Only 20
percent said they thought the United States was winning in Iraq, down
from a high of 36 percent in January.
<snip>

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