In fact, the article indicates as much (btw, neither you, nor Sargent actually link to the WaPo piece in question. It's here if you're interested):

But there is little evidence that White House political efforts on Iraq have worked as Rove had hoped. Rove this summer signaled his desire that the war could be neutralized or even turned into an asset for Republican candidates who cast Democrats as defeatist.

Why haven't more Republican candidates been using Iraq to their advantage? Perhaps because even they don't think the voters are that dumb. But Rove feels differently, probably because of past voter performance, most recently 2004.

One night at Shelly's Back Room in Washington, half a dozen lobbyists and Capitol Hill staffers pressed Cpl. Jason Dominguez to tell war stories over Scotch and cigars. Instead, Dominguez, a legislative aide to a Republican congressman, offered a parable.

He recalled a political fundraiser three days after he returned from Iraq. As he studied contributors laughing and digging into the main course, he saw in his mind's eye a young American in uniform patrolling an Iraqi street, about to be blown to pieces. To the Ohio crowd, the dead Marine would be a news blip, barely noticed, quickly forgotten.

With a tongue sharper than usual, Dominguez, 26, wanted his new Washington friends to see what he saw, the American cause for which 23 of his fellow volunteers gave their lives.

"When I see things on the Hill, I think, 'This is all some big joke?' " he lectured. " 'This is a party?' This is not a party. It's a commitment. The men and women who died treated it that way. You need to treat it that way, too. If not, get out of our house, get out of our Congress."

They listened. He wonders whether they heard.

"There are times when I'm walking the halls of Congress and it would feel so good to strap on my body armor and be back in the fight," Dominguez said. "When I was there, I knew: This matters. We were able to bring them one step closer to what it means to not live under tyranny."

About day-to-day political life, he is less sure.
"Is this what my friends died for?" he finds himself asking on days when he feels alone in a crowd. "It's amazing how oblivious we are as Americans to how much all of this costs," he said.

Yes, Corporal Dominguez, you got it.  Absolutely right.

This is not a party. It's a commitment. The men and women who died treated it that way. You need to treat it that way, too. If not, get out of our house, get out of our Congress.

And the men and women who, down through the generations, have died for the concepts and ideals that are America.  You know them.  They're the ones Repugs shat upon.

Rover, you and your lackeys have been having entirely too good of a time*, laughing at the follies of people who actually take seriously the concepts of trust, loyalty, dedication, committment, duty, honor, and country (to name a few), all the while you and your lackeys played at your chicanery games to line your pockets and the pockets of your friends with blood money.  The bill for the good times is now overdue, and this is the beginning of what payment looks like.

It'll get uglier for you.

And while he's at it, his gop supporters still think what a wonderful guy he is.

Incredible. Pure genius. ::Sigh::

"Rove was talking to an aide about some political stratagem in some state that had gone awry and a political operative who had displeased him. I paid it no mind and reviewed a jotted list of questions I hoped to ask. But after a moment, it was like ignoring a tornado flinging parked cars. "We will f*ck him. Do you hear me? We will f*ck him. We will ruin him. Like no one has ever f*cked him!" As a reporter, you get around--curse words, anger, passionate intensity are not notable events--but the ferocity, the bellicosity, the violent imputations were, well, shocking. This went on without a break for a minute or two. Then the aide slipped out looking a bit ashen, and Rove, his face ruddy from the exertions of the past few moments, looked at me and smiled a gentle, Clarence-the-Angel smile. "Come on in." And I did. And we had the most amiable chat for a half hour."
--Why Are These Men Laughing?

"Beat me, whip me, but tell me you love me!"
-- Anonymous

these are people, for the most part, completely untroubled by the deaths and maiming in iraq & afghanistan, resulting from their leader's policies and their votes. no draft will claim a son or daughter of theirs, no mourning in their future, for a life cut short.

they worry not about the economy, remarkably unfettered by fears of not being able to support their families, or provide medical care, should it be needed. they are the protected class.

they are completely detached from the reality the rest of us know.