"TREMBLE TREMBLE TREMBLE"

Skip to the last paragraph in this somewhat puffy piece on Karl Rove.

Anxious about 2004

Rove makes clear that he's not taking Bush's reelection for granted. He says he believes the 2004 contest will be another close election, even if the economy revives and a potential conflict with Iraq gives Bush a bounce. "In the aftermath of war, sometimes public attitudes change, and people who successfully prosecuted wars are no longer in office," he says, adding pointedly: "I think that happened recently in our experience."

Hmm, so it'll be close even if the economy gets better, and if America falls in love with the Iraq war. Show of hands, how many think either of those two things are gonna happen?

Translation: Karl is scared. Given the way he quit his job at the DQ to become the President's chief political advisor, it's unlikely they'll let him man the shake machine again.