Rove is gaining control of the campaign for Bush's third term

The headline in today's Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune, where the Republicans will be gathering in just two months, really sums it up: McCain camp puts Rove man in charge. I'd go a step further and say: McCain puts Rove in Charge. They're not even trying to hide it:

The elevation of Steve Schmidt -- who worked closely with Karl Rove -- at McCain's headquarters represented a sharp diminishment of the responsibilities of Rick Davis, who has been McCain's campaign manager since the last shake-up nearly a year ago.

The move is the latest sign of increasing influence of veterans of Rove's shop in the McCain operation. Nicolle Wallace, who was communications director for Bush in the 2004 campaign (and in his White House) has joined the campaign as a senior adviser, and will travel with McCain every other week. Greg Jenkins, another veteran of Rove's operation who is a former Fox News producer and director of presidential advance in the Bush White House, was hired by Schmidt last week after a series of what McCain's advisers acknowledged were poorly executed campaign events.

This crew knows how to elect George Bush -- and that's what they're going to try to do: Secure a third Bush term.