Was John Kerry Karl Rove's preferred nominee?

Politics is an extremely interesting animal. As I watched the 2003 Democratic Presidential primaries, it seemed utterly amazing to me that the Bush campaign went on an all-out assault against Howard Dean before a single vote was cast. I remember saying to myself, pre-blog :), thou protesteth too much. If you had a candidate that you were positive you could beat, in the lead of your opponent's primary process, why would you be on TV daily trying to assure his demise. It just didn't make sense.

At that time, John Kerry was about as far behind as you could get. He was essentially out of the race.

All of a sudden, the media began discussing the unelectability of Howard Dean. Then, John Kerry won the Iowa Primary, quickly followed by "The Scream".

Wham, bang, boom. John Kerry is the Democratic nominee.

Immediately, the Republicans had what appeared to be over 20 years of established opposition research and quickly attempted to define John Kerry, and did that somewhat successfully. We now have what appears to be an organized campaign to completely destroy John Kerry.

I ask this simple question. Did the Bush/Cheney campaign get exactly the candidate they wanted, and was the media an unwilling, possibly willing, accomplice? The Democratic primary voters may have bit hook line and sinker.

Who knows what a Dean, Edwards, or Clark candidacy would have looked like, but it seems to me as an independent observer that it is entirely possible Karl Rove and Co. may have preferred Kerry over all other candidates.

Obviously, this is no more than a theory, but I would be interested to hear your thoughts.