Health Care

Rove: Obama Is Desperate

Strategist sees storms ahead for president.

Karl Rove, the former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, took his boss’ successor to task in an op-ed published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal. Rove described Barack Obama as desperate and unpopular. His search for health-care reform has left the president between a rock and a hard place, Rove said, as Obama pushes against a public that isn't ready for major reform and liberal allies who will be unsatisfied without it. Rove’s forecast for Obama is dire: “Presidents always encounter rough patches. What is unusual is how soon Mr. Obama has hit his. He has used up almost all his goodwill in less than nine months, with the hardest work still ahead... A perfect political storm is amassing, and heading straight for Democrats.”