Karl Rove's phone call heard 'round the world

Bill Hemmer was talking with former senior presidential advisor and political strategist Karl Rove on Fox News this afternoon about the amazing current national political scene, especially the evolving or devolving race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Not long ago, you may recall, Hillary Clinton, who's trailing in both delegates and popular votes, suggested for strategic reasons that she and Barack Obama could be running mates on what some Democrats regard as a "dream ticket" combining the first female and African American candidates. Not surprisingly, Clinton believes she should be on top.

Recently, her husband began touting the idea, too. Friday night campaigning in Casper, Wyo., as reported here in the wee hours of Saturday, Obama told a local TV reporter, "You won't see me as a vice presidential candidate." Today, he repeated that vow.

Then this morning, also as reported here, as this week's leading candidate for the prestigious Chutzpah Award, Howard Wolfson, the senior spokesman for....

Clinton (who, remember, is losing at this point), said: "We do not believe at this point that Sen. Obama has passed that key commander in chief test" to become her running mate.

So Hemmer was on TV across the country and around the world asking Rove, a new Fox News contributor, what in that same world was going on? When, suddenly, a phone rang very loudly. There was a brief pause. The phone rang again and again.

And then Rove realized it was his very own cellphone. Shades of Rudy Giuliani being interrupted mid-speech by a cell call from his wife -- the former mayor's solution. And Obama's interrupted speech in that Iowa barn. Hemmer told Rove to answer the call. But Rove demurred, apologized and said it wouldn't happen again.

Shortly after, a news anchor came on and said, "I wonder who that was?"

Well, we have the answer for her and the world. And like most cell calls it's pretty ordinary. In an e-mail minutes ago, Rove informed The Ticket that the call was from a lawyer in Dallas. But when he tried to return it, Rove got the main office switchboard. And had no idea who to ask for.

So if you're that Texas lawyer who didn't get your call to Karl Rove answered, try again. But first, check Fox News.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Photo: Jay Premack/Bloomberg News

Comments

[Matthew]

I want my 30 seconds back.

[Dana Pico]

But this is just spectacular. After all, no one will believe that the call wasn't from John McCain, it just had to be from John McCain, it couldn't have been from anyone else but John McCain! :)

Unless, of course, it was from Hillary Clinton. the way her campaign is going, she needs all the help she can get -- and I doubt that she'd be too picky about accepting help from Mr Rove if she thought it would help her win.

[San Ying]

Sorry, Hillary. You simply have not been fashioned to be on top. Obama is Top Dog.

[GC]

I was waiting for the punchline and then it just never came.

The rest of the write-ups today were good though.