Back during the Bush years Karl Rove was at the center of every conspiracy invented by the Left. Rove stole the 2000 election, he was behind 9/11, he invented the Iraq WMD threat and was behind Hurricane Katrina. He was the evil genius behind the Bush administration. Well times have changed!

Karl Rove, over the past few years, has taken shots at Tea Party Economic/Fiscal Conservatives. He’s been the voice of the GOP Establishment against the Conservative revival. Now he’s attacking Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Rove has been getting applause for these attack from the Left. They are calling Rove a voice of reason in the GOP. Talk about a change!

In the past few days, Karl Rove, President George W. Bush’s long-time consigliere and an erstwhile hate figure on the Left, has been welcomed back into polite society. Democrats who previously thought the only place Rove should be was in jail have been murmuring approvingly about his wisdom and moderation.

At the same time, Left-wingers whose only debate about Bush over the past decade has been whether he was stupid, evil or a lethal combination of both, are suddenly recalling the former president’s “compassionate conservatism”. The Huffington Post’s Howard Finemann noted that he was better read and more thoughful than previously given credit for and now seemed “like Pericles”.

The change of heart has been prompted by the appearance on the national scene of Governor Rick Perry. He was branded as “not presidential” by Rove, chiding him for his “very unfortunate comment” in suggesting that it would be “almost treasonous” for Ben Bernanke , chairman of the Federal Reserve, to print more money before the 2012 election. Perry had added that Bernanke might get treated “pretty ugly” if he visited Texas.

[…]

They first sought to marginalise Mr Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history and a man who has presided over the creation of a million jobs under his stewardship of the state, as a Bush clone.

Now Democrats now seem to have decided to portray him as crazier than that nice, centrist Mr Bush. The establishment media has eagerly followed suit. Speaking on PBS, the Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty declared that while Bush’s conservatism was “born very much of hope and affirmation” while Perry’s was “born very much of anger”.

Under the guise of ensuring Republicans don’t choose a candidate too extreme for the general election, Mr Rove has been an eager ally in this.

Read the rest: Getting ugly in Texas – Karl Rove and the Democrats desperate to stop the Rick Perry posse

Karl Rove is becoming the latest Republican to be a useful tool for the Democrats. They always knew Rove was no Conservative. He politically used Conservatives by giving them red meat on social issues without addressing economic or fiscal concerns. Now that Conservatives are worried about economic issues and are threatening the Liberal Republicans’ 23 year grip on the party he’s in attack mode. This change is why Rove is now beloved by Democrats.

Karl Rove is going down the David Frum route. A Republican they can use against the Conservatives, who can be held up as a sign of moderation. The Left can keep Karl Rove.

Update: See Speranza’s headline on the GOP attacks on Perry.

The real reason Republican pundits attack Rick Perry