Wilson suggested Rove may be coming across as critical of Romney because he is concerned that McCain isn't listening to him.

"It may be that he senses McCain is going to go in another direction, and he doesn't want to be perceived as giving advice that has not been heeded," Wilson said.

Rove told the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills on Monday that while Romney probably had the best campaign organization of any Republican candidate, he failed to connect with voters.

And last month, Rove made it a point on "Fox News Sunday" to offer a list of Romney's flaws even as he praised him for his executive experience in business and as a former governor of Massachusetts, as well as with the Olympics.

"This is the guy who talked about environments and marching with Martin Luther King and so forth. And there's also the Mormon problem, which was really sort of astonishing to me," said Rove, who grew up in Utah.

The Mormon "problem" that Rove described was the negative reaction some voters had to Romney's membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the idea of a Mormon president.

Wilson said Romney's faith is only a "minor factor" in considering whether he should be the vice presidential nominee. "It is not irrelevant, but it's not as important as the person at the top of the ticket," the Texas professor said.

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