Fox primary: Rove blinks, apologizes to Palin for criticism

Over the past few months, Fox News political analyst Karl Rove and Fox News contributor Sarah Palin -- perhaps the most prominent would-be GOP presidential kingmaker and one of the top potential presidential candidates -- have been engaged in a running battle on numerous fronts that has been playing out on the pages and airwaves of Rupert Murdoch's papers and networks.

The confrontation escalated last week after Rove criticized Palin's forthcoming Sarah Palin's Alaska program, telling the Daily Telegraph: “With all due candour, appearing on your own reality show on the Discovery Channel, I am not certain how that fits in the American calculus of 'that helps me see you in the Oval Office'.” Palin responded by lashing out at Rove on Fox News' On the Record, calling him “paranoid.”

Rove was also cited in a Politico article as one of the “top Republicans” who are “concerned” that Palin “will run, and could win” the Republican nomination." In her latest salvo on last night's Hannity, Palin slammed the critics mentioned in that article as “Neanderthals,” “goofballs,” and “nitwits.”

That seems to have been too much for Rove, who this evening surrendered, knuckling under and apologizing on-air for criticizing her reality show:

HANNITY: Last question. Are you and Governor Palin getting along?

ROVE: The other night I got -- she took a picture of me. Brit Hume and I were studying Alaska for Dummies consciously. During the break, we were over there reading.

HANNITY: So this media stuff about, you know, your comments that maybe she shouldn't be doing the documentary?

ROVE: Well, look, my job is to sort of comment on those kinds of things, and look, I understand she's a conventional politician -- an unconventional politician, and I may be coming at it from a conventional perspective. But you know, I don't think -- you know, I didn't mean offense by it, and I'm sorry if she took it. And the other night she laughed when she saw Hume and I studying Alaska for Dummies and I hope to go there in response to her travelogue on The Discovery Channel.

Looks like this round goes to Palin.