Tag Archives: Karl Rove

When Will George Bush (and Karl Rove) Apologize to McCain?

I hate to find myself defending Donald Trump, but what George W. Bush did to John McCain in the 2000 South Carolina primary was far, far worse than anything Trump has said.

Devastated by his loss in the New Hampshire primary, Bush had to win SC.  So he did “push polls” leading voters to believe that McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child, when he and Cindy had of course adopted their daughter Bridget.  Bush also implied that McCain’s time as a POW had left him too mentally ill to serve as president.  Bush won SC, but he sure as hell didn’t win fair.

It’s Not So Bad

The results in the Senate are not, as many are proclaiming, a victory for the GOP establishment, but a big win for the Tea Party.  Yes, Karl Rove and Reince Preibus got them to don sheep’s clothing for the campaign, but they will govern as the wolves they are.  Take the issue of Personhood — that a fertilized egg has the same constitutional rights you and I do.  Cory Gardner, Thom Tillis, Tom Cotton, Steve Daines, and Joni Ernst all believe that.

On the one hand, you might see it as bad news to have more crazies in Congress.  And a Tea Party senator like Joni Ernst can do a lot more damage than a Tea Party congressman like retiring Michele Bachmann, since one of 100 is far more influential than one of 435.  But the good news is that these new senators aren’t going to shut up for the next six years (or even two) and will hurt the GOP with their extremist views.  They will be baggage for the 2016 presidential nominee.

Having Republican control — especially batshit Republican control — of both houses of Congress hurts their White House prospects.  Voters will pause before turning the entire government over to this GOP, you need someone who can at least veto the wingnut stuff.

So a GOP-controlled Congress helps the Dem presidential nominee.  The Dems also have a good chance of taking back the Senate in 2016.  They’ll have the young/minority voters who don’t bother to show up for mid-terms, and they’ll have seven states up that went GOP in 2010, but for Obama in 2008 and 2012 — New Hampshire, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

If the Dems win the White House in 2016 and take back the Senate, what then?  Not much.  Even a President Elizabeth Warren would have to face a GOP House, so a progressive agenda would be DOA.

Our best shot at actually getting stuff done?  That would be a Republican president with a Dem Congress.  The Dems will work with a Republican prez, the GOP won’t work with a Dem.

 

The Threat is from Christians, Not Muslims

The right wing keeps warning about the non-existent threat of Sharia law taking over this country.  The real theocratic threat is not from Islam, but from Christianity, specifically the doctrine of Dominionism/Reconstructionism, which calls for all of us to be ruled by biblical law.  These nutjobs are pursuing an alliance with the Libertarians to take over the GOP and the country.

From “Why the GOP’s civil war is only going to get uglier,” C. J. Werleman, Salon:

“The battle for the heart and soul of the GOP is more than social conservatives parrying with establishment Republicans.  It is a pantomime that has many actors performing on a number of stages, but with only one clown: libertarians.

“Libertarians are a funny bunch.  By funny I mean ignorant not only of basic economics but also the ride they’ve been taken on by the Christian Right and the neo-Confederates within the Republican Party.

“Nullification is the common cause that drives this anti-establishment triumvirate.  Nullification of the federal government is the weapon of choice for theocrats, libertarians and white supremacists.  Since 2010, state legislatures have put forward nearly 200 bills challenging federal laws its sponsors deem unconstitutional.

“Libertarianism and the nullification movement merge seamlessly with the Christian Right, because the ‘sacralized lost cause of the South is often undergirded by Christian Reconstructionism,’….  Reconstructionism, or Dominionism, is an ideology that calls on Christians to take over the federal government and then make the laws of the nation ‘biblical.’

“Reconstructionism merges Christianity with laissez-faire capitalism to arrive at a vision of government that endorses biblical law at the local level, alongside a limited federal government.  Essentially that makes it the perfect philosophy for wedding theocrats in an unholy marriage with libertarians and Old Dixie.

“Ultimately, the Republican Party’s civil war will be long and protracted, especially given the vast sums of money involved in determining a winner.  The Chamber of Commerce’s war chest and Karl Rove’s epic fundraising will only go so far in overcoming a triumvirate that not only has boots on the ground in the form of enthusiastic ballot box lever pullers, but also the financial backing of America’s most prominent libertarians:  Charles and David Koch.”

Quote of the Day

“Why are you letting Palin have the profile?  Why are you letting her go on your network and say the things she’s saying?  And Glenn Beck?  These are alternative people who will never be elected and they’ll kill us.”

Karl Rove to Roger Ailes, according to Gabe Sherman’s new biography of Ailes, The Loudest Voice in the Room

Love that phrase “alternative people.”

Rove Should Know Better

Karl Rove today called people from New Hampshire “New Hampshirians.”

You’d think he’d know that the people who hold the first presidential primary are New Hampsherites.

This came up in a discussion about Scott (“Empty Barn Jacket”) Brown’s possible run for Senate from there in 2014.  Brown lost his Massachusetts seat to Elizabeth Warren in 2012.

Brown “summers” in New Hampshire.

Trump to Rove: “You’re Fired!”

”When you watch someone who spends $400 million on campaigns with perhaps the worst ads I’ve ever seen — they did ads on Obama I thought were being paid for by the Obama campaign.  When you spend $400 million and it’s a failure and you don’t have one victory, you know something is seriously, seriously wrong.”

Donald Trump at CPAC today.

Six Crazies to Watch

Aaron Blake at WaPo* lists six crazy, fringe Senate candidates who keep Karl Rove up at night and make our Founding Fathers roll in their graves:

Iowa Congressman Steve King (another pea in the Todd Akin pod)

Georgia Congressman Paul Broun (says Obama is a socialist and evolution, embryology, and the Big Bang are lies from the pit of hell)

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (her presidential campaign was an endless stream of crazy, such as that the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation)

Former GOP Alaska Senate nominee Joe Miller (currently pushing the John-Brennan-is-a-Muslim meme, strong ties to Alaska militia movement, as dumb and paranoid as they come, makes Sarah Palin look smart)

Montana state Representative Champ Edmunds

Former Louisiana Congressman Jeff Landry (said Obama gave special waivers to Muslims for TSA screenings)

* “The dirty half-dozen:  Six Senate candidates who could foment GOP civil war”

 

Nate Says Tea Party Will Defeat Rove

From “New Rove Group Could Backfire on G.O.P., Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight, NYT:

“Mr. Rove’s efforts could back fire, therefore, if they result in the insurgent candidate receiving more sympathetic treatment through these channels [conservative-friendly news media outlets]; the amount of so-called ‘earned media’ that the insurgent receives could outweigh the extra advertisements that the establishment candidate is able to afford.

“My analysis of fund-raising data…has found that it is generally the proportion or ratio of funds raised by each candidate that has the most power to predict races, rather than the absolute amounts.

“Suppose, for example, that the establishment candidate has raised $3 million and the insurgent candidate $500,000, a six-to-one advantage for the establishment candidate.  Mr. Rove’s group intervenes and contributes $1 million to the establishment candidate, bringing him to $4 million total.  In response, the insurgent candidate raises $500,000 through grass roots groups, bringing her to $1 million total.  Despite the absolute difference between the candidates’ fund-raising totals having increased, the ratio has declined to a four-to-one advantage for the establishment candidate from six-to-one previously, arguably leaving the insurgent candidate in better shape than before the fund-raising salvos.”