From Terry Gross' Fresh Air radio show yesterday: Journalist Wayne Slater is the co-author of Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential. The book, now in paperback, looks at the impact of White House senior adviser Karl Rove on President Bush. There's a new documentary based on the book.

Slater described the Rove technique as not attacking an adversary's weakness, but attacking their strength. Causing doubt is enough; it appears to many as discredited if they don't pay attention when the followup stories appear (if they eventually do). Rove does it with well-funded shadow organizations and whisper campaigns. Lee Atwater (king of dirty tricks) was Rove's friend and mentor, and in many way's Rove has outdone the master. Slater said he absolutely doesn't have evidence that Rove is behind the Swift Boat Veterans who smeared Kerry, but he said he can show you again and again the exact same pattern occuring as Bush comes up against stronger candidates, and in hindsite Rove has been linked to them. This is merely the latest incident.

SRS