Populist crazy-encouraging Republican fingers like Michele Bachmann told all their nutty fans that the census was a government enslavement plot—and now there are worrying low return rates in various conservative districts. Karl Rove to the rescue!

Rove recorded this important announcement begging Republican voters to return their census forms, so that various conservative districts in Texas and other places are not eliminated. But the thing is, Rove is not a hero to the people listening to Bachmann and Alex Jones. He is an establishment suit, and an example of the sort of Republican they hold in almost as much contempt as the socialist Demmycrats.

So if there is a census participation crisis in conservative districts (and those stories may be a bit overblown), this will hardly help. It's like the Democrats asking Mark Penn to appeal to A.N.S.W.E.R..

(If the architect of the permanent Republican majority is really worried about the future electoral viability of his party, he should probably film a PSA directed at House Republicans asking them to please support comprehensive immigration reform. But good luck with that.)