Obama's Apologies Create a Sorry Situation: Rove

Barack Obama has finished his "international confession tour," and Karl Rove can’t figure out what it was supposed to accomplish. After his public apologies on two continents, "our adversaries rejoiced," Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal. David Axelrod swears this will yield “very, very valuable” rewards later. Rove’s question: “Like what?”

Robert Gibbs pointed to the lack of anti-American protesters at the Summit of the Americas this past weekend. “That’s now a test of success?” asks an incredulous Rove, noting that “Ronald Reagan drew hundreds of thousands of protesters.” Obama’s problem, in Rove’s mind, is that he wants to be popular, “a superstar not a statesman.” He may “win short-term applause from foreign audiences,” but it won’t advance America’s interests. (More Karl Rove stories.)