Posted on 01/19/2019 3:57:27 PM PST by yesthatjallen
Former White House political strategist Karl Rove warned Senate Republicans in a meeting this week not to become overly reliant on their conservative base as they head into what could be a tough 2020 presidential election.
Rove, who served as former President George W. Bush’s top political strategist, was brought in by Senate GOP leaders to speak to the 22 Republican incumbents up for reelection at an all-day planning session Thursday hosted at Nationals Park in southeast Washington, D.C.
GOP lawmakers are getting nervous about next year’s election as polls show President Trump’s approval rating dropping during the 28-day government shutdown, with economic experts warning that the standoff could dampen economic growth significantly.
Rove advised lawmakers at the meeting not to rely too much on the conservative base, which is solidly behind Trump in the stalemate over funding for a border wall, and to remember the importance of expanding the GOP’s appeal, according to Republicans familiar with his remarks.
“He talked about politics being about addition and multiplication. You want to continue to bring people in who support you and the ideas that you’re presenting to help the country move forward in a productive way,” said a GOP senator who attended the meeting.
Polls show that while Trump has strengthened his standing with Republican voters during the shutdown, he is losing ground with independents and non-college educated white voters, another key demographic.
An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll published Thursday showed the president has seen his approval rating drop by 9 points and his disapproval rating climb by 9 points among suburban men.
A GOP source familiar with Thursday’s meeting said Rove talked about his column published in The Wall Street Journal the previous day that warned “a base-only strategy is a perilous bet for 2020” and advised “the party that realizes this first may gain the edge in the coming presidential contest.”
Rove in his op-ed argued that while Democrats have refused to compromise, the White House should consider “publicly announcing an offer to end the shutdown” by asking for border wall funding in return for legal status for Dreamers.
A Quinnipiac University poll published Monday showed that registered independent voters found the arguments of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) more believable than Trump’s by a margin of 48 percent to 33 percent.
Rove also discussed the problems that GOP candidates had appealing to suburban voters in the 2018 midterm, according to a Republican senator who heard his remarks.
CNN exit polling from the last election showed Democratic and Republican House candidates splitting the suburban vote evenly, 49 percent to 49 percent. It was a troubling development for GOP candidates as suburban voters have leaned more Republican over the last two decades.
In the 2014 midterm, by comparison, Republicans performed 12 points better than Democrats among suburban voters.
Rove sounded the alarm about the eroding support for Republicans in the suburbs shortly after Election Day.
Senate Republicans have a much tougher map to defend in 2020 compared to 2018, when Democrats had to guard 26 seats and wound up losing four incumbents.
While putting his focus on “ his base”, President Trump has managed to get to a 50% approval rating among Hispanics! Something must be working.
Rove reminds me of Mitt Romney. No principal, no courage, no loyalty, full of crap.
This is the jackass that declared Jebrah would win without the base.
What does he know? We would all do well to do the opposite of what Rove suggests.
What does he know? We would all do well to do the opposite of what Rove suggests.
Translation:
Rove wants the Senate to cave on the wall and border security.
He wants GOP Senators to abandon Trump.
He does not seem to understand that if the GOP abandons
Trump, most conservatives will abandon the GOP.
Maybe he does understand and prefers the RATs to have all
the power.
Think about this.
Fat Rove makes more money than you do by being a RINO on FOX.
Suck it Karl!
Rove says rely on your Cheap Foreign Labor!
Because Corporate executives and owners cannot be trusted to run a company successfully.
Rove says that we CEOs are whimpy failures who need our Gov’t rigged safe spaces.
What has Karl Rove done for me lately?
Right.
Their “job” is not to broaden their appeal. If they actually DID their damn jobs,we the people hired them to do, that would likely happen, naturally.
But we know, that’s not really what these flunkies want
No doubt about it. The focus should always be on Karl Rove’s bank account and cash flow. After all chubby Karl is a man of the people. /s
President Trump, just ignore Karl Rove. Sincerely, your base.
He’s dumb. Yes we lost 350 seats throughout government, but we are still 650 ahead of where we started in 2008. Bug off rove.
ROVESPUTIN comes through with another prediction & warning to the man in power.
He’s a regular power behind the throne. he thinks..
And what Tokyo Rove has to say is important because...?
is this another “read my lips” advice? if followed, the candidate loses the next election
IGNORE KARL ROVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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