Rove: America would love to elect a woman or African-American

(Charlotte Examiner) - In what could be read as an admission that the Democrats have a major advantage going into this year’s elections, former Bush aide Karl Rove said today that "Americans are looking for a way to break barriers. They would love to elect a woman president; they would love to elect an African-American president. And to the degree that either gender or race plays into this race, it plays far more in a positive direction than it does in a negative direction."

Speaking on NPR’s “Tell Me More,” Rove told host Michel Martin that Barack Obama shouldn’t suffer for the failings of the pollsters who predicted his victory. “If you talk to political pros, you would find that there was pretty solid agreement that it's really tough to poll a primary,” said Rove. “And particularly a primary in a state like New Hampshire where they are not just simply voters, but active players in the drama, and they know it. So, you know, Senator Obama suffered a little bit from the expectations built up for him by the media.”

He also said Obama can’t seem to “close the argument, at least he didn't in New Hampshire. He let the rhetoric soar, but it's sort of like a lot of people probably said, well, you know, where is the beef."

What about Rove’s own Republicans? He said expects three or four viable candidates competing on Super Tuesday.