At 5:15 on election night, Karl Rove sounded jovial, assuring Sean Hannity's radio audience that Republicans would defy the polls and hang on to both the House and Senate. Less than three hours later, President George W. Bush was watching returns on TV in his private study with the First Lady and a few friends and aides. He leaned over as a blue riptide swamped Republican after Republican. "Looks like a rout!" he said.
The architect--as Bush famously called Rove--of the 2000, 2002 and 2004 G.O.P. wins now downplays his forecast. "My job is not to be a prognosticator," he told...
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