Rove Not Welcomed by Virginia Dems

Karl Rove's no-show before a House subcommittee over the politicization of the Bush Justice Department has more than a few Democrats peeved.

Local Democrats in Virginia are calling on U.S Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Va., to cancel her sold-out Friday fundraiser at Ruth's Chris Steak House in Virginia Beach with Rove as the featured guest because the former Bush adviser defied the congressional subpoena last week, The Virginian-Pilot reports.

Drake's campaign manager blasted the action as "partisan political theater."

"We have rules, and there are consequences for people who don't follow rules," said state Delegate Bobby Mathieson, D-Virginia Beach.

Delegate Joe Bouchard, D-Virginia Beach, said Rove appearing at a Drake event showed that "she is appearing to endorse his defiance of Congress."

Drake campaign manager Corry Bliss welcomed Rove. "Instead of working on a comprehensive solution to the energy crisis... Democrats would rather engage in partisan political issues on inside the Beltway issues than address high gas and food prices."

A spokesman for Drake's opponent, Glenn Nye, said, "It's disappointing that Thelma Drake would bring Karl Rove here to eat steak and continue to play Washington partisan political games."

Meanwhile, Rove, speaking to the Television Critics Association in California today, reports the Deseret News, deflected questions about the appropriateness of him being a news commentator while he's in the legal tussle with Congress for refusing to testify under oath about the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name to the press.

"Actually, it's not between me and Congress ... I have not asserted any personal privilege. This is a between the White House and Congress. This is a long-standing battle over the principle of executive privilege and the ability of the president to receive advice from senior advisers, and for those senior advisers not to be at the beck and call of Congress for testimony."

He also critiqued the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney, saying the Massachusetts governor simply wasn't ready for what he was getting into and was felled by "uneven performance." He did, however, praise Romney's fundraising, organization, state committees, volunteers and other areas, adding that he "probably [did] the best job of any of any of the Republican candidates."

He also criticized Barack Obama's decision to stop wearing a flag lapel pin, said he has no official role in John McCain's campaign, and said he shrugs off the heavy fire coming at him from every which way these days.

A lot of people beat up on me ... I read the New York Times every day. Have you read some of the ugly things they say about me? Who cares?

"My attitude is, I know who I am. I'm not the myth that I've been developed into."