Mr. Rove's speech had two purposes, namely: (1) hide the ball about Bush's failure with the war on terror and the war in Iraq, and (2) reinvigorate the Republican hate machine. We know that he attacks the strength of his enemies, and the Democrats strength right now is that they aren't the Republicans, who increasingly seem to be the party of failure. Bush knows he is perceived as a failure. Rove knows it. And the American people seem to be coming around in light of recent polling. Rove and his troops came out to attack because they had to. If they don't they are done given their failures in catching bin Laden, the war on Iraq, and, well I could go on for quite some length .
I would suggest Democrats respond simply "Rove is a hatemonger who simply wants to change the political debate from the issues that matter to one of petty sniping. If Mr. Rove could offer a solution to catching bin Laden, we'd be happy to listen. If Mr. Rove could offer a means to change the direction in Iraq, we'd be all ears. But instead of offering answers, Mr. Rove simply accuses half the population of being un-American for the purposes of dimming the spotlight on the Bush Administration's failures. The debate is about how to catch bin Laden and how to turn the Iraq situation around while minimizing the damage we have caused , rather than hyperbolic, false accusations from a right wing zealot, who is part of an Administration that has become synonymous with failure."