Karl Rove advises Obama not to claim victory...says it would rub loser's nose in it.

[madfloridian]

Thank you so much, Mr. Rove, you outstanding citizen, you.

You are taking time out from such pastimes as interfering in Alabama politics

In the rough and tumble of Alabama politics, the scramble for power is often a blood sport. At the moment, the state's former Democratic governor, Don Siegelman, stands convicted of bribery and conspiracy charges and faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Siegelman has long claimed that his prosecution was driven by politically motivated, Republican-appointed U.S. attorneys.

Now Karl Rove, the President's top political strategist, has been implicated in the controversy. A longtime Republican lawyer in Alabama swears she heard a top G.O.P. operative in the state say that Rove "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing" Siegelman, with help from two of Alabama's U.S. attorneys.

More of what Karl Rove, the architect said to the Obama campaign in one of his three prestigious media positions which ignore his tainted past. He is "an analyst for Fox News and a contributor to Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal."

Wow.

Rove's advice

This month, Karl Rove, "the architect" of the last two Republican presidential victories, was on his new television perch at Fox News, offering free advice to Sen. Barack Obama as he closed in on the Democratic nomination.

Any move by Obama to declare victory before the last of the Democratic primaries in June, Rove said, would alienate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's wing of the party. "That's a mistake," he said. "That just is rubbing the loser's nose in it. And a lot of those supporters will remember it by November."

The response by Obama's campaign?

In the Obama campaign war room in Chicago, Rove's counsel was taken with a heavy dose of salt.

"Wouldn't taking his advice be a little like getting health tips from a funeral home director?" said Obama's press secretary, Bill Burton.

Rove is going to be pursued by Democrats in the House soon. They have even threatened arrest if need be. Good for them. About time.

Meanwhile he is a commentator who is being free rein to give Democrats advice.