Once a top adviser to the Bush administration, Karl Rove is now airing his agenda all by himself. He’s lined up a Fox News gig, but his column in Newsweek is proving to be a prickly platform, too. And not because he’s using it to play politics, which he is, but because he’s going after the very magazine his article appears in.

Why then the media’s recent fascination with the supposed demise of the Republican Party? What are the reasons given for why, at least when it comes to the Republicans, “the party’s over,” as NEWSWEEK recently pronounced? First, we are told the GOP nomination has not been won “fairly quickly,” as in recent contests. This is a horrible misremembering of history.

The senior Bush took 45 days after the first contest to secure the nomination in 1988. It took Bob Dole 35 days to become the presumptive nominee in 1996. The current president took 45 days to clear the field in 2000. The first contest this year was on Jan. 3. Let’s at least give the process until the middle or end of February before pundits start predicting doom because of how long it’s taking. And if the Republican nomination not being settled is evidence of disaster, what does the Democratic nomination being up for grabs say? It’s normal for both parties’ nominees to be undecided at this point. The season is not moving too slowly. If anything, it is moving too quickly this time, with 38 contests in the first 33 days.

Though if Newsweek is anything like MSNBC, Rove’s criticism won’t impact his byline’s appearance anytime soon.