LET'S ROLL! Rove
Image-wise, ex-Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove isn't going to have an easy year. Now that he has departed the White House, rollie-bags in tow, he is going to have to look for a new campaign to jumpstart and mastermind all the way to the Oval Office. Problem is, he mucked up this one so bad he might never bounce back—when it comes to crisis management, it's one thing to snort some coke and go on a bender in an Escalade, but it's entirely another to plant troops in Iraq and shadily help to fire eight U.S. attorneys. Sometimes, there are stains so big that even a PR whiz can't get them out.

But never fear, Karl, because we called in the best. Not only does Matthew Traub, a big deal at Dan Klores Communications, represent corporations and Hollywood big wigs now, he spent 10-plus years working on D.C. campaigns and practicing the fine art of spin on Capitol Hill.

After the jump, Traub's suggestions (and slaps on the wrist) for Rove, assuming anyone wishes that Karl rise yet again to "architect" status.

Karl Rove, you're in the PR/ER!

Before you go, cop to your many mistakes
TRAUB: "Rove is credited with bringing GWB to where he is today, so let's look at how that has turned out. They lost the House and the Senate, they are mired in Iraq, the approval ratings went off a cliff and have stayed there, Rove was implicated in the CIA leak case, and he was involved in the mass firings of federal prosecutors, from which he's trying to shirk. So yeah, it was time for him to go. The question is: Is he being pushed out, or is he fleeing his responsibility to answer for his actions to investigators? Some say he has less protection once he's left the White House, but he also is trying to escape testifying. I personally think he should stay in D.C. and account for his commitment to politics before policy. He cares more about political issues than what's right for the county. The truth shalt set you free ... well, maybe after a little time in the can."

Link up with another presidential campaign, and win
"I suppose that he'll want redemption and to be viewed once more as this political wunderkind. And to do that he needs to jump into a new presidential campaign, which by the way is something he said he won't do. And he needs to win in a big and surprising way. Given what he did to the Bush presidency, however, that's not a likely scenario. Still, the public tends to be forgiving, especially with people newly in positions of power. If he can have a strong hand in a victory for [Fred] Thompson or someone else, that will be tremendously beneficial for his image and will shift some blame off Karl Rove and onto Bush. Rove will have showed he can win time and time again, and that it was Bush who was really the rotten apple."

Give it a little time—no one's touching you just yet
"The PR question should be: What would you tell the campaign considering bringing in someone like Karl Rove? And my answer would be, there are enough good people out there, go find someone else. But maybe with a little bit of patience he'll find the right opportunity. Look at Nixon. He was completely reviled out of office and seen by many as a dark spot, but he was able to rehabilitate some aspect of his image. It just took 20 years to do it. But even now most people think of him as a disgrace."

You screwed up. Real talk
"On his darkest day, Rove won't feel as if he has done anything wrong except to have made a couple of strategic missteps. That's part of the delusional nature of Karl Rove. He probably thinks that everything he's done was for the betterment of our country. Why, with a lot of talent out there, would someone want to bring in the guy who has brought the Bush Administration to such a low point?"