"If they're trying some sort of political jujitsu, then they might wind up punching themselves in the face," Shrum said.
One analyst, theatlantic.com blogger Marc Ambinder, reported that Rove, having decided that Clinton will win the nomination, is trying to push Republicans to start attacking her because she has had success in remaking her image.
Clinton appeared to welcome the attacks from Rove, widely disliked among Democrats, and her campaign traded blows with the White House last week. A new Clinton television ad in Iowa, released as Rove made his comments, accused Bush of ignoring the needs of working families and soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A White House spokeswoman immediately called the claims "outrageous," "absurd" and "unconscionable" -- and the Clinton campaign happily touted the exchange as proof that the GOP was afraid of her.
Clinton aides went a step further, drawing parallels between Rove's remarks and Obama's comments in a Washington Post interview in which the Illinois senator said he could unite the country more effectively than Clinton.
"Throughout this campaign, Sen. Clinton has successfully explained why she is the candidate with the strength and experience to make change happen, so it's no surprise that the national Republicans are doing what they can to help the other candidates," said Clinton spokesman Phil Singer.
"Considering that the Rove rhetoric closely mirrors what some Democratic candidates are saying, it's clear that the Republicans think she will win in 2008."
Conservative activist Grover Norquist said that he doubted conservatives were trying to meddle in the Democratic primaries and that nobody on his side thinks that party's base would pay attention to Rove.
But he then adopted another device favored by political professionals, taking a position that could be read as straightforward or as carefully calculated.
"I want to run against Hillary Clinton because I think she's the easiest person to beat," Norquist said. "But she's by no means a pushover."
peter.wallsten@latimes.com
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The next debate
The Democratic presidential candidates will participate in a forum at Drake University in Des Moines this morning. The forum will be broadcast as a special edition of ABC-TV's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" at 8 a.m.
