Birth of a notion

Today in Salon, cartoonist Carol Lay illustrates Karl Rove's political origins in the 1968 student government election at his Utah high school. "True story!" says a legend in the comic. Here's the whole story as recounted in the Deseret News.

But the big challenge would be in the school elections assembly. Rove said his opponent, John Sorensen, "had always won by having himself delivered to the podium to give his speech in an outhouse. John Sorensen — get it? John (a synonym for outhouse)?"

Rove expected a repeat and says he knew it would be tough to outdo that.

So his campaign sneaked a Volkswagen into school hallways by removing some doors. "I made my entrance into the auditorium in a Volkswagen Bug filled with incredibly attractive girls. Two girls on each arm delivered me to the podium," he said.