What will Rove's mark be?

Jazz covered Karl Rove's departure below but I thought I would add a few things. WSJ winger Paul Gigot has a commentary this morning, 'The Mark of Rove'. In it he explains that Rove still sees a rosy picture of the Bush administration.

"He will move back up in the polls," says Mr. Rove, who interrupts my reference to Mr. Bush's 30% approval rating by saying it's heading close to "40%," and "higher than Congress."

Looking ahead, he adds, "Iraq will be in a better place" as the surge continues. Come the autumn, too, "we'll see in the battle over FISA" -- the wiretapping of foreign terrorists -- "a fissure in the Democratic Party." Also in the fall, "the budget fight will have been fought to our advantage," helping the GOP restore, through a series of presidential vetoes, its brand name on spending restraint and taxes.

Of course this is the same guy who "knew" the Republicans would hold both the house and the senate in 2006.

While Rove has been the guy progressives loved to revile I wonder if it is the Republicans who will end up with the bad taste of Karl Rove's brand of politics in their mouths. His brand of politics was divide and conquer. Pander to the extremist base with just enough moderation and a heavy dose of fear to draw enough independents to win. It worked for two election cycles but broke down seriously in 2006 when the independents and even moderate Republicans deserted the party of hate and fear. Those who identify themselves as Republicans is now at the lowest level in decades and the Democrats have a double digit lead. In 2000 the two parties were about even. Rove talks about Hillary Clinton:

As for the Democrats, "They are likely to nominate a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate" by the name of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Holding the White House for a third term is always difficult given the pent-up desire for change, he says, but "I think we've got a very good chance to do so."

While Hillary may have some electability issues the "fatally flawed" flawed candidates are more likely to be the Bush clones on the Republican side. Rove's goal was a permanent Republican majority and what he may have created instead in a Republican minority for several election cycles. So who is going to end up reviling Karl Rove - the Democrats or the Republicans?

If the Republican party is going to make a comeback anytime soon it will have to de-Rove itself.

Update
As usual Joe Gandelamn has some great observations. This one stands out but go read the entire post.

(5) Winning and governing by being in a constant state of war against enemies who are painted as a danger to the country could only work if he and and the administration enjoyed widespread credibility. Rove and Bush found their credibility crumbled. It could not count on not just a solid base, but a base of the SAME SIZE.