In early August 2004, Karl Rove, President Bush’s top political advisor, was having lunch with a small group of journalists at the Oval Room, a restaurant across Lafayette Square from the White House. The talk — off the record, unless Rove agreed to be quoted — was about strategy in the presidential race. Was Kerry’s emphasis on his Vietnam record a mistake? Was Bush going to offer a full-scale defense of the war in Iraq? Would he push issues like Social Security reform? After the discussion touched on a number of heavy topics, I asked Rove what he thought of...