[Zhang Fei]

I think at that time, Rove did indeed have his finger on the pulse of the country, and was able to make the most of that by dialing down those elections to the extreme local level to achieve those (slight) victories. But he has since lost that connection, and with it, his influence.

If the first were true, GWB would have won landslide victories. Even in the 80's, amnesty was so toxic, the most popular GOP president of the 20th century, RWR, waited until his second term to push for it. For Rove to push for it, after the political debacle that was Iraq had started affecting Bush's poll ratings, was idiotic in the extreme.

[cotton1706]

“If the first were true, GWB would have won landslide victories.”

You may be right. But my impression at the time and now, is that the American electorate was very evenly balanced in 2000, and then again in 2004. Then there was a very well choreographed swing to the democrats in 2006 and 2008 and then the pendulum swung back hard in 2010. 2012 was a status quo election due to the moderate at the top of the republican ticket who refused to make the most of his political environment, and we have yet to see the results of 2014.