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Maybe Karl Rove Has a Point
Human Events ^ | 2/6/2013 09:30 PM | By: David Harsanyi

Posted on 02/07/2013 6:50:50 AM PST by Perdogg

Let’s put ideology aside for a moment.

Karl Rove, architect of the George W. Bush-era Republican victories, says he’s sick of fanatics running his party into the ground. So he’s devised a strategy to preemptively sink unelectable candidates early in the process. He’s formed a new super PAC to implement this strategy. It’s called the Conservative Victory Project, and it’s led by a guy named Steven Law, who was the head of another super PAC, called American Crossroads, which went something like 0-7 in the 2012 election cycle. (Not that anyone’s counting.)

Grass-roots conservatives, needless to say, are quite perturbed. “I’m filing the paperwork to form a super PAC to support freedom-loving conservative alternatives to (Karl Rove) on FOX,” tweeted former Rep. Joe Walsh. Surely, he won’t be the last to counter Rove’s efforts

(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: rove
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To: dfwgator
The problem is that Rove shoots his mouth off, when he doesn’t have a replacement candidate ready to go. It’s like quitting a job before you have another one lined up. It’s insane!

Yep, combined to the fact that a lot of less informed donors still think Rove's good because Bush won. (Regular Businessmen often trust big names to do the job because of hype - politics ain't the same as regular business). When Rove runs his trap, donors listen.

In late September, Rove crowed that Michigan was off the table. Any funding dried up. Perception became reality at that point. Three weeks later, it was a swing state again. Damage was already done, and we couldn't recover. At least we only lost 5 state house seats.

81 posted on 02/07/2013 8:07:10 AM PST by Darren McCarty (If most people were more than keyboard warriors, we might have won the election)
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To: dfwgator

>And be replaced with whom?

Whichever primary contender that had the best chance. The fact that the democrats helped akin win the primary should have been a clue.


82 posted on 02/07/2013 8:10:54 AM PST by soycd
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To: Darren McCarty
Yep, combined to the fact that a lot of less informed donors still think Rove's good because Bush won.

Bush "won" (barely) because the Rats ran lousy candidates, just like Obama won because the Republicans ran lousy candidates against him.

83 posted on 02/07/2013 8:11:17 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: Perdogg
"We need to get better conservative candidates and win.”

Rove should have considered his own admonition in relation to Willard, as well as Akin and Mourdock.

84 posted on 02/07/2013 8:12:07 AM PST by matthew fuller (Fast and Furious fizzled- Enter Sandy Hook.)
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To: soycd; dfwgator; Lakeshark

See #62

I actually respect your position regarding Akin. I think it’s in good faith and it has merit. His words weren’t the best.

I’m totally convinced, though, that Akin’s words don’t nearly rise to the level of bad behavior and comments by democrats in the past. We can cite theft, tax evasion, lying, sexual predation, etc., etc. AND those people were NOT abandoned by their party and DID win re-election.

So, in my mind it was the media frenzy, and the fact that the republicans joined in attacking their own. That is what brought down Akin.

As you recall, he was comfortably ahead in the polls prior to the frenzy, he was a multi-term congressman with a stellar conservative record, and he had the support of both the Senate campaign committee.

Those all say he wasn’t a “nut”.

At least they say that to me.

So, you are among those who believe his words were so bad that he would have lost no matter the republicans piling on. That is an intelligent, honorable position. I don’t question your analysis, conclusion, or partiality.

I’m among those who think it was the piling on that made Akin fail to recover.


85 posted on 02/07/2013 8:12:46 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! True supporters of our troops pray for their victory!)
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To: soycd

By that time, it was too late, we aren’t like the Democrats in New Jersey who could just roll out Lautenberg as the last minute. The GOP bench is very thin.


86 posted on 02/07/2013 8:13:01 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: soycd

Read #62. Akin had been a successful, conservative, multi-term representative in the US House. He was not a fly-by-night.

The sad thing in all this is that at a time we need solid conservative voices in the House, we have lost one in Akin. (I don’t think he also ran for his House seat at the same time. I’m not even sure that’s possible. I know that Ryan ran for his while running for VP, but I think that makes it different levels....state/national versus state/state.)


87 posted on 02/07/2013 8:16:41 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! True supporters of our troops pray for their victory!)
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To: C. Edmund Wright

In other words, the fact that “no political party will solve this thing” is not a license to be ignorant of which one will destroy it the quickest.


I disagree. Once you realize that the car is going to hit the wall no matter who is driving, it only determine WHEN it hits, you want to prepare for it hitting, not try to change the timing.

I LITERALLY no longer care which party is in office. In fact, crashing sooner may be better than crashing later.

I also see it from this viewpoint: Where would the early church have been if it had put its faith in Rome? And I most definitely see western civilization as very much like Rome. Actually, more like Babylon. It is why I say that I moved here in the spirit or Revelation 18:4.


88 posted on 02/07/2013 8:24:27 AM PST by cuban leaf (Were doomed! Details at eleven.)
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To: cuban leaf

With due respect, and all frankness, I don’t understand how you are so deaf and blind to how FRIGGIN IMPORTANT THE TIMING OF WHEN WE HIT THAT WALL IS, NOT TO MENTION FRIGGIN IMPORTANT HOW FAST WE’RE GOING!.

Stage one cancer is not as bad as stage four cancer. If you don’t get that, I can’t help you.


89 posted on 02/07/2013 8:27:47 AM PST by C. Edmund Wright
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To: Mr. K; Perdogg; Vigilanteman; Impy
RE :”But “frontrunner” Romney was who the LOSER Rove wanted.”

Coulter was even more graphic about how she thought Romney was the most winnable, after first picking Christie.

But the Romney nomination disaster was due to much more than those two individuals.
He was up against a bunch of weak candidates who spent most of the race fighting each other and Cain blew up on his own, all after make believe (media driven) runs by two individuals who never intended to run and didnt.
Both Santurum and Newt were very weak candidates so neither got all the anti-Romney support to really challenge him.
Rove is not the all powerful puppet-master many want to make him out to be.

Romney was bound to lose that race in my view, but so were the others.

RE “So... the GOP lost (surprise!) and the LOSERS who lost it, to the worst pResident in history, want to form a PAC to ... do what exactly? Push candidates with more ‘electability’ again?”

Pointing out the weaknesses and flaws of Rove is valid but still does not address the authors points :
A number of EASY Senate races were lost the past two elections due purely to the candidate's stupidity and lack of self disciplined that had nothing to do with Rove or Romney. Akin and Angle are the most obvious. It was a throw away so bad that it almost reeks of setup. Something needs to keep that from happening again.

90 posted on 02/07/2013 8:29:44 AM PST by sickoflibs (Losing to Dems and Obama is not a principle! Its just losing.)
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To: Perdogg

I agree with Rove that we need conservative candidates who can win elections. I disagree that he’s any better or smarter than anyone else in picking them.


91 posted on 02/07/2013 8:30:53 AM PST by bigbob
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To: xzins
Was Akin’s statement so egregious that he would have lost

Yes it was. So egregious that a lot of good conservatives wanted to throw up (Palin, Malkin, Levin, Rush, etc.). In a time where the democrat/media complex had ginned up the fake "war on women", he became the perfect face of the GOP (for them) with their meme. Had he been supported, the election loss that occurred would have been far worse, we could have lost the House as well, along with many more senate seats.

There were two other very good conservative candidates who ran against Akin, who polled as easy winners against McCaskill far after Akin's melt down. Akin would not step down because of his pride, arrogance and desire to make money, to gain prestige as a senator, instead he pushed on in the face of reality and handed back a seat to the leftists. He could have and should have abdicated.

As I said, when democrats pulled their support from Toricelli, Spitzer, and Weiner, they resigned. Akin should have done likewise, this was far from a simple GOPE thing, most conservatives were turned off (rightfully so) as well.

92 posted on 02/07/2013 8:32:00 AM PST by Lakeshark (!)
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To: Perdogg

We need more like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, less like Todd Akin or Chritine O’Donnell


93 posted on 02/07/2013 8:33:29 AM PST by Homer1
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To: xzins

He was not fly by night, but he was not this great virginal tea party outsider either, as your six term statement shows. He did portray the idea of an outsider fighting big mean ole washington, and yet he’s part of Washington.

That dishonesty is one of the reasons I did not like him.

As I understand it, the district is solidly Republican. Not sure what “successful” means in congress, as he’s just kind of held onto a safe seat.


94 posted on 02/07/2013 8:33:37 AM PST by C. Edmund Wright
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To: C. Edmund Wright

Stage one cancer is not as bad as stage four cancer. If you don’t get that, I can’t help you.


That right there is our disconnect. I believe we are in stage four. I believe we have been for years. The doctor has given us a time range to live and said we need to get our affairs in order and come up with a bucket list.

So, the patient may die in six months or maybe hold on for years. But the pain will increase and the life quality will decrease as it winds down, but it is clearly winding down.

Wait until the pain drugs no longer have an impact.


95 posted on 02/07/2013 8:38:11 AM PST by cuban leaf (Were doomed! Details at eleven.)
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To: Perdogg
"Karl Rove, architect of the George W. Bush-era Republican victories,"

That premise needs to be reexamined. Karl Rove came about as close as was possible to turning those victories into defeats. The man is mostly "rote," remembering poll results, but not fully understanding why they were what they were. The man lacks analytic powers, as well as understanding what America is all about.

See, with respect to the 2000 campaign, Campaign 2000; or consider the 2006 disaster, also Rove's "work"; Rove Directed Republican Disaster.

Rove has all the political competence of yesterday's luncheon leftovers, which someone forgot to refrigerate.

I won't even get into his ethics.

William Flax

96 posted on 02/07/2013 8:38:14 AM PST by Ohioan
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To: Perdogg

Rove seems to forget that it was the conservative displayed by W that got him elected. Not until W $h1+ on his conservative base and became a defacto Rat did his approval numbers fall into the toilet.


97 posted on 02/07/2013 8:40:31 AM PST by RatRipper (Self-centeredness, greed, envy, deceit and lawless corruption has killed this once great nation.)
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To: Perdogg

Let’s put ideology aside for a moment.

What?!? Putting ideology aside is what brought us down to this whole new low in the first place. It's about time we tried something new ... like keeping ideology on the table in plain view for all to see, respect, and defend.


98 posted on 02/07/2013 8:40:58 AM PST by so_real ( "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.")
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To: cuban leaf

No, the disconnect is that you don’t know the difference between stage one and stage four, and who causes which.

Enjoy the purity of your irrelevance.


99 posted on 02/07/2013 8:42:06 AM PST by C. Edmund Wright
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To: xzins
Your thoughts are appreciated and helpful.

The problem here is complex to say the least, my own opinion is he should have dropped out, his comments were over the top in their stupidity, I'm as pro life as they get and frankly cringed when I heard what he said. It was simply horrid, he could not have been elected dog catcher after that. Yes, the media had a frenzy, but their was genuine blood in the water, not some fake ginned up thing.

100 posted on 02/07/2013 8:46:29 AM PST by Lakeshark (!)
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