What Happened with Rove?

I have heard the media repeatedly question why Karl Rove could not save the House and the Senate, and whether or not this meant the end of his career. I greatly admire Rove, like it or not, when it comes to political analyses he is a freaking genius. Although he was shown on television expressing confidence about the elections, his demeanor suggested otherwise. I suspect that Rove has made some suggestions prior to the election that were ignored. I really don't believe that someone with his keenness did not have something up his sleeve. If you listen to past Bush speeches and watch his actions, you can actually tell when Rove was involved and when he was not. Whenever I have seen Bush do (or say) something that seemed really off-script, the first thing I wondered was if Rove was on vacation.

Bush should have fired Rumsfeld a long time ago, but he is very loyal to his friends, so the fact that he did so yesterday was a surprise. Rove, however, deserves a medal; I will be eternally in awe of the political machine he built during the last elections.