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As Karl Rove exits stage right with his ruined dreams of rightist hegemony, all the political signs and portents tell us that America is turning the other way. No doubt the departing ‘boy genius’ would dispute that assertion as liberal wishful thinking, as would many on the right. But they cannot so easily dismiss The Economist, an avowedly conservative voice that is among the oldest and most respected periodicals in the world. Framing the shift on the cover of its Aug. 11 issue with a question – ‘Is America turning left?’- the magazine’s editors conclude in their lead essay that the answer is yes, probably. ‘Having recaptured Congress last year, the Democrats are on course to retake the presidency in 2008,’ which blames the destruction of the vaunted Republican machine on the ideological excess and breathtaking incompetence of Bush as well as the sleaziness of the G.O.P. leadership in Congress.”