Payback Will Be Brutal for Democrats, Obama

Karl Rove remains very confident as the midterms enter crunch time. Voters will deliver a "crushing rebuke" (his headline predicts a "Democratic apocalypse") to the left's candidates and to President Obama's policies, he writes in the Wall Street Journal. It's true that midterms are usually lousy for any White House, but this year is especially bad. Opposition to Obama's policies has nationalized the election, with the result that party leaders like Harry Reid and even Barney Frank will be sweating on Tuesday, writes Rove.

Places like Ohio once friendly to Obama have flipped, and Republican voters seemingly can't wait to get to the polls. "In recent days, Mr. Obama screamed defiantly to Democratic rallies that Republicans have to 'sit in the back,' and he told a Latino radio audience that it's time to 'punish our enemies and ... reward our friends,'" writes Rove. "That may be the president's idea of how to appeal to Americans' better instincts. Next Tuesday night we'll see how badly wrong he is." (More midterm elections stories.)