A good deal has been made about Karl Rove’s assertion that Senator Clinton’s negatives are too high and would be easily beatable. So much so that George Stephanopoulos brought it up during yesterdays ABC debate posing it as a question to the other candidates. Their response? Not that groundbreaking. Clinton’s response was right on point “you don’t fight them for as long as I have without raking up high negative numbers” which she said to applause. Frankly this was a missed opportunity for Obama, Edwards & the others for a massive applause line themselves. Why?

First lets get to the heart of the matter. Karl Rove isn’t going to tell everyone who he does or doesn’t want to see Republicans run against. He wouldn’t be much of a strategist if he did. Yet for the last eight years every time Rove has opened his mouth the media seem to take it as gospel. After Al Gore lost the election but started building up popularity again Rove had every Republican echoing the same theme “We would love to run against him! This will be a landslide.”

Was it true? Heck no. Gore won the popular vote in 2000, put himself into a state best described as a mess and then pulled himself out of it by being the first and most vocal dissenting voice on Iraq and eventually a Hollywood star. Not to mention if Gore had learned from his 2000 mistakes he would have probably been a powerful force. Democrats, however, ran scared and ran to John Kerry.

Rove won’t tell you what he wants but I will. He wants to run against a “liberal” candidate who is soft on crime/defense, looks like they will raise taxes, supports gay-marriage and won’t fight back. The Republican strategy for the 2008 election looks the same as 2006, 2004, 2002 & 2000. Fear, division, & attack, attack, attack.

Now how could Rove have been used by those other democratic candidates during the debates? You never let your opponents frame you, instead you frame your opponents. Imagine if John Edwards or Barack Obama had responded with something like:

George, I haven’t heard a statement by Karl Rove I have ever agreed with. I’ve never seen a maneuver by Rove that hasn’t sought to divide and conquer, never seen a policy he has generated that has helped anyone but Karl Rove & George W. Bush at the expense of the American people. Does Hillary have high negative numbers with Republicans, yeah, probably some other people too. Do you know who has high negative numbers with almost the entire country? Karl Rove and his entire administration. The only thought I have about Karl Rove is its a shame he is leaving early because in 2008 when we walk into the White House it sure would be nice to watch the door hit him on the way out.

The Democrats have hit the moment when they are ready to tear each other apart at the expense of their party. Which is a real shame for the party because they had a golden opportunity on national television to frame the entire opposition. The next candidate could have followed that up with something like:

Not only is Karl Rove a terrible source of political information, this is a guy who got it wrong on the war, got it wrong after Katrina, got it wrong on Harriet Miers, doesn’t know his own party on immigration, education or social values. I know more than a few conservative Republicans who have been burned by Mr. Rove & Mr. Bush and an entire country that is suffering under their watch. You want to talk about negative numbers and elections I can tell you a thing or two about Mr. Rove’s chances of keeping the presidency in 2008.

Edwards really could have brought the house down with something like:

George, I believe in hope and optimism. It is what has guided me through my life and I want to see a return to civility in this country. With that said there are bad people in this world who care more about themselves than the nation. Mr. Rove is one of those people and if there is one thing about Bill & Hillary I am going to take into my administration its that I will never walk away from a fight when someone is threatening hope. It is from their example that Elizabeth & I wouldn’t stand aside while Ann Coulter attacked our family and it is a good reminder of how we all plan on dealing with those people around the world who threaten us. We won’t stand around like Rove and his friends and avoid enemies when it isn’t convenient for our bank accounts or family friends.

In short, Karl Rove has left his party out to dry over the years and has done nothing of value for this country. As for my fellow Democrat I for one am standing here today to say I will never stand by while someone like Karl Rove attacks one of my friends and I hope everyone else on this stage and in this party will vow to do the same!

See how this would stir up a Democratic audience? Each candidate could have defended a fellow democrat, chastised the opposition and highlighted their personal strengths all while stirring up the emotions of the audience and getting their names in the papers the next morning.

Instead they just stood there, evasive, non-committal and pretty weak, exactly the kind of disharmony Rove was going for in his statement.