Ben Stein: Time for Mac to Call Rove

Conservative stalwart Ben Stein thought Bob Dole's quest for the White House set the bar low, but says John McCain is “running the absolute most pathetic campaign I have ever seen in my whole life.” But there’s an answer ("Anyone? Anyone?")—talk to Karl Rove, “about the smartest in the country in terms of politics.” CNN sits down with the onetime economics teacher to talk campaign 2008.

Someone should offer the Bush political adviser “all the kingdoms in the world” to “guide” the campaign, Stein says. "He is one of the nicest, straightest-shooting, most heads-up, kindest guys I have ever met. And the idea that they (media) treat him as some kind of a sinister figure is just ridiculous. He is basically just a big nerd who has an incredible amount of data stuck in his head about what each congressional district is like in terms of its voters." (More John McCain stories.)