Karl Rove Is Not The Solution. He is Part of the Problem
Karl Rove may have received more mileage out of two razor thin George W. Bush victories than anyone else in the political "elite". Dubbed "the Architect", (1)Rove's leading of W's 2000 campaign narrowly defeated the true nutjob, Al Gore, with 271 electoral votes, while losing the popular vote. AND, it took Gore losing his home state of Tennessee for Bush to get to 271!
In 2004, Bush likewise beat the most left-leaning candidate the Dems had put forward yet, John Kerry, with a mere 51% of the vote. Again, it took something extraordinary for Bush to get the victory. This time it was a group of Vietnam Vets, former swift boat colleagues of Kerry, who challenged claims of heroism and honorable military service made by John Kerry, which derailed the challenger.
Keep in mind that Rove had predicted that Bush would defeat Gore with over 320 electoral votes, and that California was actually in play for Bush. Rove wasn't even close on either prediction.
Rove's record as a strategist since then has not only been less that brilliant. It's been abysmal.
In 2006 Rove predicted that Republicans would control both the House and the Senate. The results? Republican lost 31 seats in the House, going from a 232-202 majority to a 233-202 minority. In the Senate, Republicans lost 6 seats, going from a 55 vote majority, to a 49 seat minority. In addition, Republicans lost 6 Governorships, and 300 seats in state legislatures.
The Trashing Christine O'Donnell
In 2010, Rove had landed a job on Fox News for his "'expert" analysis of politics. Conservative Americans were awake. A grassroots movement of conservatives had risen across the country, resulting in the Tea Party. Tea Party-backed candidates across the country were defeating GOP incumbents all across the country, replacing them with fiscally and socially conservative/libertarian candidates. One such Tea Party candidate was Christine O'Donnell of Delaware. Fresh off a primary victory over her long-time establishment RINO opponent Mike Castle, her victory party was pissed on by Karl Rove. Rove, appearing on Hannity(video here) to discuss the night's primary results, launched into a vicious assault on Christine O'Donnell. Calling her "nutty", and accusing her of having a "checkered background", Rove told viewers that he was "not frankly impressed with her as a candidate", that she had "mislead voters", and "this is a race we are not going to be able to win". O'Donnell's primary night victory was the high point of her candidacy, and she never recovered from the attack. Rove had ensured an O'Donnell defeat in the General election. This, despite the fact her opponent had once claimed he was a socialist. Mission accomplished, "Turd-blossom"!
2012: Rove Candidates Fail on an Epic Scale
Election night 2012 was the night that the wheels came off, and Karl Rove was exposed, once again, for his complete ineptitude in picking winners and losers. Karl Rove and his 'American Crossroads' Super Pac spent $400 million on "the most conservative candidates that could win". How did he do? He had a 1% success rate! Throwing darts at a wall of names while blindfolded would yield a higher success rate.
(2)Juxtapose his "success" with Sarah Palin, who endorsed conservative candidates in the primaries without throwing in the disclaimer, "that could win". Some she endorsed through Twitter and Facebook. Some of her picks, like Senator Ted Cruz, were trailing significantly. Her litmus test? That the candidate was conservative. Period! Her success rate. Seventy-five percent!
Who's the Wizard?
Deflecting Criticism: Attacking the Tea Party
Karl Rove despises the Tea Party. He won't come out and say it. His actions and how he spends his money belie the facts, though. Like every other Washington, DC, inside-the-beltway establishment Republican, for Rove the Tea Party represents a danger to their power and influence. Members of the Tea Party and their candidates have a distrust of the Washington, DC political class, and reject the GOP's "bend over and grab the ankles" approach to dealing with a Democrat Party that more closely resembles a Stalinist politburo than the party of Harry Truman. When there are statists like Barack Obama, Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Chuck Schumer pushing an agenda with no regard for the Constitution, or the American People's liberty, you're damn right we want "representation" from conservatives who have the backbone to stand up and say not only "no", but "hell no".
Karl Rove represents those ilk of politicians who, for the sake of have "better numbers", lead us down a path of slow motion national suicide. Having the numbers doesn't mean bupkus if compromise is defined as not moving as far to the left as they wanted us to. At the end of the day, you've moved closer to what they ultimately desire, and a "new" center is defined.
Rove and Reagan
Karl Rove's latest attempt to burnish his "conservative credentials" is to claim that he worked on the 1980 Ronald Reagan campaign. According to Rove, he "was the director of the Texas campaign for Ronald Reagan in the fall of 1980 and was appointed to the White House Fellows selection panel". Uh, no. (3)According to those who were there, and can document it, he didn't. Radio host Mark Levin who did work on the 1980 campaign, and served in the Reagan Administration for eight years, does not remember Rove at all. Author Craig Shirley, who authored "Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed America", which details Reagan's 1980 campaign, also disputes Rove's claim of working on the Reagan campaign, while also noting the following:
- In 1976, as chairman of the College Republicans, Rove supported Gerald Ford over Gov. Reagan, as did all members of the Republican National Committee at that time.
- Ernie Angelo ran the 1980 Texas campaign for Ronald Reagan; Rick Shelby was field director; and in 1980, Gary Hoitsma ran the media for Reagan in Texas.
- Rove’s own bio on his website says he was on Gov. Clements staff in 1980; Clements was not on board with Reagan until after Republican National Convention held that year in Detroit.
Karl Rove has been exposed. He is not this supposed political savant and guru. In fact, his record is spotty, at best. It is also being learned that he is not above stretching the truth as to his record and inside knowledge of the political winds, in order to maintain his facade of being a political boy wonder. The curtain has been pulled back on the "great Oz", and he has been revealed as a fraud, ideologically - a RINO in conservative's clothing.
Karl Rove and his PAC are not the pathway to victory, or for Conservatives to take back the Republican Party. He, and others like him, are the problem.
(1) http://www.salon.com/2012/11/08/shattering_the_rove_myth/
(2) http://thespeechatimeforchoosing.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/endorsement-power-sarah-palin-75-success-karl-rove-100s-of-millions-spent-only-1-success/
(3) http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/rove-never-worked-for-reagan/?cat_orig=politics
