Clinton-Rove Spat Boosts Both

By Craig Crawford | August 16, 2007 11:15 AM | | Comments (0)

For Democrats, there’s nothing like a public spat with Karl Rove to stir up the base. And that’s the favor that the outgoing White House political guru did for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton this week, blasting the New York Democrat as “fatally flawed” in an interview with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Clinton, who is running an Iowa television advertisement skewering George W. Bush, quickly retorted, saying, “I feel so lucky that I am now giving them such heartburn.” Aides to her Democratic rivals are grumbling that Rove is just trying to boost Clinton’s candidacy among liberals who hate him — further evidence, they say, that Republicans are hoping to run against her because they think she’s unelectable.

Still, this episode only helps Clinton among the Democratic faithful. And Rove is delighting his party’s base voters by demonizing her. In that sense, they are like boxers who heighten public interest in a big match by trading insults. Both sides win.

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