From Holden:

Dan Froomkin explains just what it is the Karl Rove hoped to achieve with his remarks before the New York Conservative Party, and why we should expect no appologies.

Karl Rove didn’t get George W. Bush this far just by luck. Rove has a brilliant and so far unbeatable strategy when it comes to political warfare: He doesn’t defend his candidate’s weaknesses, he attacks his opponent’s strengths. Unapologetically.

Consider the 2004 campaign, when Rove was faced with a Vietnam problem. A war hero was running against his boss, who had opted to stay well out of harm’s way. Rather than defend, Rove attacked — and put John Kerry on the defensive.

Today, Democrats are uniting against the war and the public is increasingly worried and critical about Bush’s leadership. So what’s Rove doing? Rather than defend against their criticisms, Rove has decided to go for the jugular.

The most compelling anti-war arguments are that the war in Iraq was a diversion from the war on terror and that American troops are dying daily for no good reason. So Rove’s response is to liken war critics to al Qaeda sympathizers intent on subverting the American military.