New York Times columnist David Brooks claimed that the grand jury investigation into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame is “not a politically important story” because "[t]he amount of American people who have heard about Karl Rove is small." But contrary to Brooks's comments, made on the October 23 broadcast of ABC's This Week, recent public opinion polls indicate that the public is well aware of the White House senior adviser and that many have formed an opinion of him.

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted October 13-16 with a +/- 3 percent margin of error found that only 23 percent of respondents indicated they had “never heard of” Rove. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed were familiar enough with Rove to have an opinion, with 39 percent holding an unfavorable opinion.

A Diageo/Hotline poll conducted October 12-16 with a +/- 4.4 percent margin of error, which asked whether respondents “have a strongly favorable/unfavorable opinion or a somewhat favorable/unfavorable opinion” of Rove, found that 57 percent of respondents had heard of Rove, with 30 percent holding an unfavorable opinion and 16 percent favorable.

Brooks's comments reflect a recent pattern among conservatives. When asked by host Katie Couric on the October 20 broadcast of NBC's Today to comment on the CIA leak investigation, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly said, “Quite frankly, the people ... don't really care.” Stuart Varney, a co-worker of O'Reilly at Fox News, made similar comments while serving as guest host on the October 14 and 19 editions of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, claiming that the public “simply doesn't care about” and “doesn't like” the investigation. Conservative radio talk show host Melanie Morgan, who is co-chairwoman of the conservative activist group Move America Forward, said on the October 21 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews: “I can tell you right now, that people outside of Washington don't give a rat's rear about what's going on.”

From the October 23 broadcast of ABC's This Week:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Another endgame this week: the special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald; the grand jury ends next Friday. But what I was struck by and I want to put it up on the board, last Friday, just a couple of days go, out of nowhere, after being in business for two years, the special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald puts up a website, and it's pretty hard to know what that means exactly. I can't believe it was just, you know, sort of, boy, we were behind our work, but David, it seemed to me there were two possibilities there. We don't know for sure, but one, he intends to be in business for an awful long time or, two, and maybe this is too Machiavellian, he was trying to send a signal to those who he was investigating: He is serious. This is your final weekend to come in and make a deal.

BROOKS: Yeah, I don't know about that. Maybe he just wanted to start a blog, talk about his favorite movies, favorite TV shows. You know, I think this is actually a story that is not a politically important story. You know, when I've talked to a lot of House members this week about what people are asking about, it's never this. The amount of American people who have heard about Karl Rove is small, let alone [Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff I. Lewis] “Scooter” Libby, so this is going to be an important story for the Bush White House because Rove --

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you're saying it's not important even if Fitzgerald does indict?

BROOKS: Yeah, I really think that in terms of the next election. Howard Dean just talked about the [former Speaker of the House Newt] Gingrich strategy, the Gingrich strategy capitalizing on the corruption in Washington. I don't think the Democrats can pull off that kind of strategy. What Gingrich did is he rallied conservatives to the Republican side. What the Democrats have to do is talk to people's everyday concerns, which are gas prices and things like that. If they get sidetracked, start talking about Rove and Libby and Bush; that's just not a positive strategy for the Democratic Party.

From the October 21 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: The president says that the, quote, “background noise,” close quote, of the CIA leak investigation and Tom DeLay's indictment in Texas are not getting in the way of his second-term planning. We're joined right now by radio talk show host Melanie Morgan and Amy Goodman, she's the radio host of Democracy Now! Let's go to Melanie first of all. Melanie, you were over in Iraq recently, and I know you care a great deal, perhaps more than many other Americans, about the situation over there. Is this prosecution of the White House over the leak scandal, is it going to kill the case or weaken the case for war because of all the questions it raises about the WMD [weapons of mass destruction] arguments made before the war?

MORGAN: No, I don't think so, Chris. I think this is just an inside-the-Washington-Beltway kind of game that people like you are heating up and others at The Washington Post and The New York Times. I can tell you right now that people outside of Washington don't give a rat's rear about what's going on until and unless there are indictments.

MATTHEWS: If there are indictments, is it the responsibility of the press to talk about what might be the basis for those indictments?

MORGAN: Well, yes, of course it is. But right now, it's just speculation, and I'd like to say one other thing. I want to know why the press hasn't turned its attention on Valerie Wilson and her husband, Joseph Wilson, and speculated endlessly about whether or not they might face indictment because Joe Wilson did lie.