The NYTimes sums up the new, new thing in American political punditry: Karl Rove.
Jim Rutenberg and Jacques Steinberg write, “There are ‘Karl Rove-types,’ and there is Karl Rove, who helped to define the modern brand of hardball politics and built a new team of Republican operatives…”
At times clearly partisan, at others apparently offering down-the-middle analysis, Mr. Rove in his new role as a media star marks another step in the evolution of mainstream journalism, where opinion, “straight news” reporting and unmistakable spin increasingly mingle, especially on television.
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The story points to other operatives-turned-TV pundits including, George Stephanopoulos whose “abrupt move 11 years ago from the Clinton White House to ABC News raised hackles inside and outside the network;” Nicolle Wallace, who’s gone from politics to TV and back again; Alex Castellanos: from the Mitt Romney campaign to CNN; and three other members of CNN’s BPTOT: Paul Begala, James Carville, and Donna Brazile. As for “the architects” TV performance, Rutenberg and Steinberg write:
As an on-camera presence, Mr. Rove is not necessarily a natural. Neither his doughy chin nor his ashen complexion would be confused with those of, say, Brian Williams of NBC News.