Karl Rove believes the GOP is being overrun by extremists who will run the party aground. In attempting to sabotage the nomination of candidates like Rick Perry, his motives are obvious. So the reasoning goes, this amounts to a tacit endorsement of Mitt Romney: the somewhat-"establishment" candidate whose "turn it is". But what if there's another option?
Obama's foreign policy achievements may not seem to reflect well on Bush II, but only through a neo-centric lens. While their current relationship is all about comparisons, the arc of history will regard Obama as the implementor and refiner of Bush's policies, and Bush will be vindicated as the innovator (at least this is what Rove is counting on).
He is also considering the likehlihood that if a GOP candidate is elected to preside over the even-more-horrific times that are certainly upon us, it will be the party's last stand. Not that anyone else in the party seems to care about this -- sadly, the ability to have four years worth of foresight is what passes for prognostication these days -- after all, Rove is a GOP strategist and thus highly motivated to keep his job, and if it is Obama who ends up presiding over these surely-horrific-times-to-come, it is likely that the trend of his receiving at least partial blame for the present conditions will continue. Meanwhile, the GOP can continue to transfer blame to Obama, and by 2016 the party will be poised for a revival.
