They Still Don't Get It.

A Republican heavy weighs in on Karl Rove's non-indictment:

"The other team thought they'd sacked the quarterback, and even if he came back he'd limp anyway," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and a Rove confidant, who had lunch with him yesterday. "Now he's back -- no limp."

What they don't get -- "they" being the political class -- is that to most of us, it's not a game.

Comments

[Mr. Grouchypants]

While it isn't a game to most voters, I suspect that many of the party faithful do approach it as if it is. They view events through the lens of "how will this help or hurt my (side/team)?".

And people are demonized not because of who they are but because of the side for which they play. Would the Democrats feel the same way about Karl Rove if he was a strategist for them? Probably not, just look at how David Brock has been embraced by the left.

It's similar to how I would have liked Magic Johnson a whole lot more if he had played for the Celtics back in the day. Of course, he was passing basketballs rather than laws, but I think the general principle still applies.

[Nick]

Moreover, their treatment of it as a game has led too many of "us" (the general voting public) to treat it the same way. There are too many voters (usually the ones who describe themselves as "I'm a lifelong Republican/Democrat" or "I come from a Rep/Dem family") who, if they actually sat down to look at the issues, might realize that the other "team" has a platform more in line with what they actually believe. But the political operators have been so successful at demonizing the other side that they don't even consider the possibility of switching.