I'm in Sea-Tac where I watched Karl Rove speak to the King County Republican Party.

A performance note: Rove was much more subdued than when I saw him here three years ago. In 2004 he gave a very personal, at times moving, speech about his longtime friendship and professional relationship with George W. Bush. It was a campaign year and that could account for the differences.

Tonight's speech was more low-key, more serious, and didn't say much about the president. (I'm waiting for some reaction from a spokesman for the Democratic Party to Rove's comments about Democratic plans for Iraq and criticism of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.)

Here's what I'm working on for the late editions of tomorrow's paper:

SEA-TAC â€" Karl Rove, the president's closest and most influential political advisor, was here Saturday night far from the controversy that swirls around him in Washington, D.C., telling King County Republicans that the party's fortunes can rise again.

Rove could have been giving himself a pep talk when he said he sensed "Republicans are getting up off the mat and getting back into the fight."

He did not mention the firing of U.S. attorneys, his e-mails and missing e-mails that are the stuff of high-profile news stories.

But what may have been most striking about the 30 minute speech by the man whose career has been defined by the arc of George W. Bush's political fortunes, is that the president merited very little mention.

When Rove appeared before the county Republicans three years ago the speech was very much a tale of Bush with intimate behind-the-scenes moments to build a character sketch of the president.

Saturday night in an airport hotel convention center, the speech was about government spending and the war. Rove repeatedly underlined the important role Republicans can still play in Washington, D.C., even though Congress is run by Democrats.

"What it requires is boldness in advocating in what we believe," Rove said. "If we're bold, one of two things is going to happen. Either we're going to convince enough Democrats to join with us and we're going to have progress for America and pass good legislation, or we're going to have one heck of an argument.

"And guess what? Over time we'll win that argument."

There were nearly 500 people on hand for the King County Republican Party's belated Lincoln Day Dinner. The event sold out in three weeks, at a minimum of $50 paid per person.

"People want to see what the president's going to do in his last two years," said Kirby Wilbur, a conservative talk show host and party activist. "Republicans lost the Senate. They lost the House. So people want to hear what the political genius says is going to happen."

There were few details of what the final years of the Bush presidency could bring. Rove did attack Congressional Democrats for what he said was profligate spending and taxation.

"These Democrats are making a big mistake," he said. "They're forgetting the fact that there is a Republican president a mile and a half away at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue who who is going to say no to their spending and taxes."

Rove's harshest words came in his attack on the Democrats' plans for Iraq. He ridiculed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her trip to Syria, said her party is "mandating failure" in Iraq.

"You know, the troops do not need General Pelosi trying to run the war from Capital Hill," he said.

Security around the Rove visit was much tighter than when he visited in 2004. This time there was a heavy police presence as well as Secret Service agents.
There was a small group of protesters outside the convention center, some wearing large papier-mâché heads of Bush, Cheney and Rove.