Veteran Bush political strategist, Karl Rove, appears to be making a comeback of sorts to help the Republican Party.
BLITZER: He's certainly a political force in the GOP and a mastermind behind some of the dramatic election victories of former president, George W. Bush. Now, with his party poised to potentially win back the House this November, "The New York Times" is reporting that Karl Rove is back.
Joining us now to talk about that and more, our senior political analysts, David Gergen and Gloria Borger -- Gloria, are all Republicans happy that Karl Rove is back?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, lots of Republicans who are running for election are happy that Karl Rove is back. Look, there is a split in the Republican Party Some of the Tea Party activists are not thrilled with him, because he said that Christine O'Donnell, in the state of Delaware, was unelectable. He was unhappy because he felt that she would -- could cost them control of the Senate.
But there are lots of Republicans here who feel that the Republican National Committee has not been doing some of the things that it needs to be doing and that they're thrilled that Karl Rove, along with Ed Gillespie, another former Bush adviser, are raising something like $32 million to help do things like get out the vote and run some attack ads in districts in which they feel they can really make a difference.
BLITZER: David, can Karl Rove mastermind another Republican political victory on November 2?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: I don't think he'll mastermind it, Wolf. You know, there's -- there's a wave in this country that neither Karl Rove nor anybody else is going to control. But he can make a difference in some individual races. And I think he already is.
The "L.A. Times" reported that, for example, this weekend, that in two races very important for the Senate, Harry Reid hoped to get a knockout blow against Martha Angle and -- the Tea Party candidate in Nevada.
Karl Rove and his group have poured money into it and they kept her very competitive. It's an even Steven race out there right now in California. Barbara Boxer running for the Senate as a Democratic incumbent hoped to knock out Carly Fiorina.
She had a great financial advantage. These outside groups with Karl Rove right there in the middle of it poured money into the Fiorina campaign. She's behind but she's very competitive.
So, they can make a difference. And so many races, you know, the Democrats are arguing, there are 15 races in the Senate within five points.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Gloria, the Republican Party today as opposed to two years ago or four years ago or six years ago seems to be different? It's a different Republican Party, right?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, it's a totally different Republican Party, but you know, Republican values, small government, lower taxes, those kinds of things remain pretty stable.
And I think it's kind of a national message that Karl Rove's group, American cross roads, and congressional candidates can run on together. I think the important thing in the Republican Party right now is that they've got the Democrats running so scared that I talked to a top Republican strategist for some House Democrats who said, look, we may now put Karl Rove in some of our ads.
And that they're going to say that he's running a secretly funded corporate campaign. Because, you know, a lot of this money comes from very wealthy establishment Republicans and they're going to use Rove in these races because he still polls so well for them with Democrats - I mean, he's unpopular among Democrats that they can help bring out the base. But to tell you the truth, I think that's just at the margins.
BLITZER: You know, David, in our new CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll that's out today, we asked the question, how well are things going in the country right now, 29 percent said, well, 70 percent said badly.
Now, normally when you have numbers like that, it does not bode well for the party in power in the House and the Senate and the White House?
GERGEN: That's right and even though a large number of Americans continue to blame George W. Bush more than they blame Barack Obama for the fact that things aren't going well.
It's just inevitably when you're the incumbent, you're paying the price when times aren't good and they're part of the pushback is coming because times aren't good.
But those numbers, you're right, Wolf, you've got, you know, it's essentially two-to-one, Americans are very down on where the country is. We've been down for a long time. You know, we've been on the wrong track going to the polls. I think for five or six years now.
BORGER: You know, that's not wrong track, that's off track, right? I mean, you know, voters just think it's gone off of the rails. And the Democrats have been in charge, for better or worse, no matter who caused it, for the last couple of years. They're going to take the fall.
GERGEN: I don't think the public is all that far off either about it being the wrong track.
BORGER: Right.
BLITZER: Yes, guys, these elections five weeks away. We'll be watching every step of the way to see if the Democrats can do anything to turn things around over the next few weeks, Gloria, and David, thank you.
Transcript froM The Situation Room Aired September 27,2010