"Is Karl Rove really that smart?"

The Instapundit posts this about the NIE:

Reader Dale Harkey suspects a Rovian plot, given that the full document actually says that we're doing pretty well:

The set-up is oh so beautiful. Rove (it has to be Rove, right?) has the worst-case-scenario portions of a generally favorable NIE leaked to a gullible and traitorous media salaciously eager to run with it. The left-wing nuts explode in glee and establish their bonafides with all manner of stupid utterances. And since it is easily observed to be a politically motivated leak, (here comes the left hook the appeasers have leaned into because they can’t see it coming) what more justification can there be than to de-classify the original so the whole picture is available (and oh by the way, get the good stuff out there before the elections.) They sure couldn’t just hand the media a copy of the NIE and say, “hey, check this out, it says we’re doing okay,” could they? A dirty trick inside a dirty trick that turns the passion of the Bush-haters onto itself.

Is Karl Rove really that smart? "

Yes, I believe Karl Rove is smart enough to come up with the scheme, but also smart enough not to go through with it. Let's assume for a moment that Rove orders some underling to reveal parts of the NIE and the underling follows orders. While the NY Times, et al, may salivate over the possibility of publishing the material, despite their bias, they may ask questions of the source. It may not take too long to get back to Rove.

It is long past time for people in this country, especially on the left, to stop seeing Rove behind every little move that turns out to benefit the Bush Administration or comes back to bite the Dems on the ass. If a story is too good to be true, it usually is. To me this is just a case where the newspapers did not do a good job fact checking and looking for the original source but just rushed ahead with publication because it will boost circulation/ratings.

Could it be just that simple that the leftie press and the Dems want to embarass the Administration, selectively quote from a classified document and then point to Bush "dirty tricks" when it blows up in their faces?