Karl Rove addressed expectant conservatives today with a speech sponsored by the American Enterprise Instituite. He didn’t disappoint, even taking a few questions.

This speech follows another address that he made last Friday, which generally followed the same talking points:

Rove understands the mood of the country. He gets it. He also gets the poll numbers (and the difference between job approval and personal approval).

What came across in both Rove appearances is that, one, he’s engaged, focused and ready for the hand to hand combat that Republicans should be ready to wage in the coming months with Democrats.

Another interesting note, at least to us, was Rove’s seeming interest in Social Security reform. He noted that personal retirement accounts would not solve the problems of the Social Security system, but would help individuals with the retirement issues. We got the sense that perhaps that Rove — and by extension the President and his Administration — want another bite at that apple. That they do, given what has transpired, indicates that they think there are still policy debates to be had in this town before they leave town. This we find interesting if not encouraging.