Machiavellian Rove 'Kept Santorum Alive Until He Could Kill Rick Perry First... THEN Newt Gingrich'

Reaganite Republican ^ | 15 November 2012 | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

GO AWAY already

It's over dude...

As you've most likely already heard, the TEA Party right has declared all-out war on Karl 'Boss Hogg' Rove in the wake of numerous recent (expen$ive) GOP disasters in which
'The Architect' played an inglorious starring role. The final straw was likely his lack of willingness to take responsibility for an almost complete lack of success in the 2012 election cycle, instead pointing fingers and making excuses like an Italian cruise ship captain.

Rove's flat-out whiffing in almost every race he backed -on top of improbable Romney defeat- would be enough for any sensible organization to seek-out somebody with a different strategy/skill-set... yet now Rove has provided still more reason to turn on him by attempting to blame the right for Mitten's lack of results while pushing an ill-conceived and unhelpful amnesty agenda as a shiny fool's gold cure-all for the party's current electoral woes.

As someone who initially backed Bachmann and later Newt Gingrich, I sure haven't forgotten the way Rove utilized near-limitless resources to destroy conservative candidates and ram Romney down our gullet. I really felt like I'd been totally screwed-over... not a very pleasant feeling.

Now we read that Santorum -who I'm no fan of- served effectively as a post-Iowa useful idiot that Rove utilized to damage all other conservatives, as he diluted and split the party's right by surrepticiously funding Santorum's dead-end campaign long past it's natural life. Not a huge surprise I guess, we all knew the fix was in... apparent from very early-on.

Thanks Ricky- do you even know you were played yet?

I ASK YOU who needs a duplicitous RINO scumbag like Karl Frickin' Rove manipulating our party- this gaming-the-primaries stuff is completely anti-democratic, denying the people's will (only 30% of Republicans supported Romney in the primaries- that's what you call 'collective wisdom'). 

Small wonder then that Rove got his blobular butt kicked all up-and-down the field on Election Day, and now the whole party is paying a heavy-duty price for it, not to mention the country (highlights Ed.)-

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Business Insider:

Karl Rove was out raising money to keep Santorum alive until they could kill Newt 

Santorum basically ran for Governor of Iowa in 2011, visiting all 99 counties; 

Santorum, out of Iowa, had no organization, no money and no chance in 2012 to be the Republican nominee; he was only a stalking horse for Mitt Romney 

Rove kept Santorum alive until he could kill Rick Perry first, and then Newt Gingrich. It's instructive to note that Santorum placed 3rd in the South Carolina Presidential Primary the third week of January, and placed 3rd again the next week in Florida — yet Rove [by encouraging GOP donors to donate Santorum] was able to parlay two third place finishes into a $1M shot of money to keep Santorum alive...this is political gamesmanship on a whole other level, plus access to unlimited money. 

That Fox News and the The Wall Street Journal worked out a hefty financial contract with Karl Rove is of no concern to me, Karl has every right to be paid well and -like me- participate in the political process. 

But giving Karl Rove the perch as a neutral analyst and an unbiased observer -honest broker- when in reality Karl is driven by his desire to enhance his clients and/or personal interests -corrupts the process. 

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But guess what? WE WILL WIN this war with Karl Rove and other ossified GOP failures over the next few months...
and we're going to have one helluva lot of fun doing it. 

Yes, the imminent death of the Karl Rove's diabolical RNC cabal will mean a true Reaganite renaissance in this country: you know... the long-overdue one who's time had unfortunately not yet quite come last week- but it is coming my friends, and soon.

How soon? It's already here for Rove- he wasted millions on crap results from coast-to-coast, and nobody's going to hire him for this sort of thing again- he can just sit there and bloviate on Hannity every night, 'blah blah blah CHART blah blah blah $$$ blah blah blah 'confident' blah blah blah blah blah' -yawn-

It's here for Obama's former crony-capitalist buddies on Wall Street, too- financial markets are tanking because most investors were sure that Romney was going to win, and since this was already priced-in to securities, now-disappointed traders are dumping in dismay... tell me they're not up for a Reaganomics-driven recovery right about now.

Yes, it's almost here for all of us: all we got to do is roll
Rollee-Pollee Rove to the curb and usher in a NEW generation of GOP leaders... the so-called 'Children of Reagan': the Rubios, Ryans, Gowdys, the Bachmanns... Ted Cruz... Mike Pence. THESE are people who get it- and because of that, they now stand ready to inherit the leadership mantle of the TEA Party
-which is to be indiscernible from the 'new' GOP- in our ongoing quest to salvage this great nation:

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Forbes:

Rubio already has earned rock star quality, both for his personal charisma and the charisma of his ideas. 

Rubio is a leader in presenting prosperity-with-social-equity, fostering Reaganesque economic policies: 

'We don’t need new taxes. We need new taxpayers, people that are gainfully employed, making money and paying into the tax system. 

And then we need a government that has the discipline to take that additional revenue and use it to pay down the debt and never grow it again. And that’s what we should be focused on, and that’s what we’re not focused on.'

Rubio leads the pack among GOP Insiders in the most recent National Journal Political Insiders’ Poll. He’s built a major league team and is first tier..

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First step? Replace John Boehner with -say- Paul Ryan...

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iowntheworld   Forbes   ArkansasGOPWing   RSN   Business Insider

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Akin did the job on himself. Plus McCackle invested more in Akin’s campaign than Akin did.
Ditto Perry.
I suggest an IQ test for the next GOP candidate for anything national.

One single issue killed the GOP’s chances in the senate and WH. The issue was no exceptions on abortion. It fit the Donk’s “war on women” narrative.

[LuvFreeRepublic]

Yes Karl Rove was pulling the strings, but we knew it and let him do it. Our country is getting what it deserves and there is no shortage of people who should have exercised better judgment.

[LuvFreeRepublic]

Yes Karl Rove was pulling the strings, but we knew it and let him do it. Our country is getting what it deserves and there is no shortage of people who should have exercised better judgment.

[Lakeshark]

Perry lost it with his performances in those first three debates. He had the money, the momentum, and early support from the base (including me). Whether it was the back medecine, or he just can't communicate is irrelevant, he looked like a disaster when he spoke. His ill timed (and ridiculous) lecture to the base about being "heartless" killed him.

Quite honestly he looked like he didn't belong there. This had nothing to do with Rove. He lost it all by himself.

[onyx]

She made her decision is early October, well before the first primaries. The silly debates started way too soon. The campaigns start too soon, because the lamestream wants a horse race so it can slaughter our conservatives and build up the moderates, just like Rove.

[xzins]

One single issue killed the GOP’s chances in the senate and WH. The issue was no exceptions on abortion

Rove's candidates did not tout no exceptions on abortion and they still lost. Rove's record wasn't just dismal; it was catastrophic.

[JCBreckenridge]

“This article is talking about the critical time of Iowa through Florida.”

Yes, and Santorum won Iowa. Why, if you wanted the conservative to win - did you support Gingrich in South Carolina?

[Charles Henrickson]

You mean Gingrich would have lost...which is exactly what Romney did.

No, I mean Gingrich would have lost Houston-Astros bad. Jacksonville-Jaguars bad. Custer-at-Little-Big-Horn bad. I mean bad.

[JCBreckenridge]

His withdrawal and endorsement of Santorum after Colorado/Minnesota/Missouri would have ensured that Romney lost the nomination.

It was at this point - his candidacy had no hope. He had been superceded by Santorum’s campaign. Instead, he stayed in, conservatives were split and the result is what we had today.

People here were warning you folks about these things. Why did you not all listen to them?

[xzins]

I think it was just learning curve. He was doing just fine by the time he ended his campaign.

So, at one level I’ve got to agree with you: it’s dumb to enter a presidential campaign with a steep learning curve.

On the other hand, I know about the racial epithet rock and the “heartless” comment was only significant because it was taken by his opponents to be a description of Perry’s position rather than as an experienced nudge in the right direction.

[JCBreckenridge]

“sanctimonious establishment hack Santorum”

That’s the cure! Less sanctimony more reach around the aisle.

By jove, I believe you’ve got it!

[allmendream]

I had THREE major problems with Rick Perry as a Presidential candidate, but for some reason I can only seem to remember TWO of them. ;)

What a weak weak field of candidates.

Mr. “Grandfather of 0bamacare”

Mr. “Two out of Three aint bad”

Mr. “the evils of birth control”

Mr. “eye out for wife #4”

Etc, etc. Very sad for our Republic that this is the best the GOP had with asperations of the Presidency.

[JCBreckenridge]

Mr. “the evils of birth control”

How’s that birth control workin’ out for ya?

[Lakeshark]

Every campaign has its ups and downs, and every campaign has its supporters and strategists.

It's pretty clear this stuff happens, particularly with 20/20 hindsight. It's also clear that Newt (and the others) did not have the capacity, the supporters, nor the strategists to pull him through.

Romney won, he was the best candidate this time. Looking back at all the others with the hindsight we have now, I am certain Newt would have been destroyed much worse. This was close, Newt or any of the others would have made it a blow out.

You can check this too: I was a firm supporter of Newt and wanted him to win the nomination.

[C. Edmund Wright]

You don’t understand Iowa, and how winning a tiny caucus of weirdo voters who never make a difference ever - is meaingless.

And why did I support Gingirch? He was the best combination of ability, accomplishment, persuasive ability, and issues in the field. Far from perfect, but he has accomplished a whole lot more for what we bleieve in than Rick ever will. Yes,Rick takes the slings and arrows, because he’s never effective. And Rick has sold more conservatism down the river in his short life than Newt ever did, altho I am fully aware of some of newt’s spectacularly bad moments.

But again, Rick is a pro life Democrat. Google “50 Things You Don’t Know About Rick Santorum” - it’s a document HIS campaign put out. Get back to me with that great conservative after that.

[allmendream]

How is your anti freedom big government nanny state advocacy working out for you?

Winning many elections speaking out against the evils of birth control lately?

[JediJones]

I don't think Perry or Gingrich or Santorum or Bachmann--I don't think any of them were the answer. This has nothing to do with Rove. None of them could win the nomination, and even if they did, all of them would have been spanked worse than Romney was.

Wrong. Gingrich would have won. He's a master communicator, a tough fighter, a great political strategist and he appeals to the working-class whites who didn't show up. He also had talked up Susana Martinez and Marco Rubio as V.P.s, which would've probably helped. Santorum would've had a chance, if he could avoid an Akin/Mourdock like gaffe, which was probably not likely.

[Lakeshark]

I am guessing it was his back medecine, he did very well in the last debates and showed he could have been a formidable candidate.

Unfortunately he hurt himself at the wrong time, he left an enduring impression with the GOP voters that he would never pass the 5% threshold, and they (we) moved on.

In 20/20 hindsight it's all so clear isn't it?

:-)

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

You can’t beat somebody with nobody.

Shortly after the ’10 election I adopted “Draft Palin” for my tagline precisely in the hopes of helping to rally conservatives around a single candidate who could suck all the conservative oxygen out of the room and keep Romney from dividing and conquering us.

But uniting conservatives wasn’t reality; Palin wasn’t “down for the struggle” and we were divided - and, consequently, we were easily conquered.

[C. Edmund Wright]

The only tiny thing I would disagree with you on is the Tea Party reference. There are two distinct strains of tea - at least two - and only one is the real liberty minded, limited government, anti Obama Care tea that was sparked by Rick Santelli and led to the formation of the tea party - which included a lot of social conservatives, but they were not there for the social issues per se.

And then there is the co opting of some of the tea party groups as a off shoot of and repackaing of pro life groups.

The first group gives us Marco Rubio, Lee from Utah, Johnson from Wisconsin, Cruz from Texas, Paul from Kentucky - and is kind of godfathered by DeMint. The second group gives us O Donnell, Angle, Akin and Mourdock. And Santorum. And what this clueless group doesn’t even understand is that Akin and Santorum are really long time tools of the establishment, but they are so despised for their utter lack of ability, that they then claim to be outsiders. And too many fall for it around here simply because they will babble endlessly about abortion. How about we save the country from Marxism and/or Islamic terror first, then win the arguments that we are right on regarding the other issues?

I’m a total Reagan conservative, but I’ll be darned if I’ll blindy support an idiot just because he is right on the social issues. There are non idiots who are also right on those issues.

Find me someone who can actually accomplish something for those issues, even if that is someone who doesn’t look like Brady Bunch central casting.