Nothing, and I do mean nothing, could be more divisive to the conservative cause or to the Republican cause (two different things at times, but not in this case) than to have a third-party gubernatorial bid in a key swing state currently governed by Republicans, against a duly nominated candidate who is the sitting attorney general, with a history of punching way above his weight politically, a history of political canniness, and a record of being way ahead of the curve in promoting thoughtful, sensitive reforms for mental-health law and also being ahead of the curve in fighting human trafficking. What Bill Bolling is threatening to do in Virginia, against the superb Ken Cuccinelli, is an abomination. It creates conditions significantly more likely to hand the governorship over to the despicable Terry McAuliffe — a man who deeply slandered this very journal, and then had neither the guts to defend his slander nor the integrity to admit his manifest error  .  (Please do read that link, where our founder, R. Emmett Tyrrell, lays out the amazing story of McAuliffe’s perfidy.)

According to the very principles claimed by Karl Rove in defending his new venture for helping the GOP choose the rightward most electable candidates, Cuccinelli absolutely merits support, and Bolling merits strong opposition. It is thus incumbent on Mr. Rove to use all his influence to dissuade Bolling from running, and, if he runs anyway, to do absolutely everything humanly possible to marginalize Bolling and support Cuccinelli.

Otherwise, all of Rove’s self-defense will have been shown to be, uh, rather less than entirely on the up and up.

Mr. Rove, we await your intervention on Cuccinelli’s behalf in this most serious of battles, especially considering the high stakes in this off-year gubernatorial race that will enjoy the rapt attention of the political nation.