Rove was almost certainly behind the CBS brewhau, but he did play Rather (and everyone else) like a b!tch. He is an evil genius, but a genius just the same.
That said, any compaign manager worth their salt at the national level these days knows how to play dirty. It's the NFL, not little league.
Fintstone works for him, I think, on the *nothing to see here, move along* detail.