Rove: Reagan Wouldn't Ace Purity Test

Karl Rove is warning conservatives to not expect too much from the next Republican president, reminding them that “not even Ronald Reagan will get a perfect score on a purity test.”

Rove, in an interview with National Review published Tuesday, said conservatives need “to balance principled critiques with an appreciation for political realities.”

“No president, not even Ronald Reagan, will get a perfect score on a purity test once in office. Reagan, after all, raised taxes by what at the time was a record amount and signed an immigration-amnesty bill,” said the former political hand to President George W. Bush. “And President Reagan still belongs on Mount Rushmore. You take a statesman in the totality of his actions.”

Rove also said though that the reaction from movement conservatives is sometimes difficult to gauge from the White House.

“Conservatives are a frothy mix,” Rove said. “I often found conservatives on different sides of the same issue, whether one of substance or tactics.”

“This diversity is healthy, though it does lead in some quarters of our movement to an unfortunate tendency to view a narrow slice of the conservative alliance as possessing the only true beliefs of the entire movement,” he added.

Still, Rove said that conservatives were “quite supportive” of the Bush agenda “for the most part.”