Posted on 10/28/2010 10:03:10 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Tea Party activists tell The Daily Beast that Karl Rove "has been wrong all summer long." Shushannah Walshe on the party's fight over Sarah Palin and the Republican soul.
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It didn’t take long for Tea Party activists to circle the wagons after Karl Rove’s attack on Sarah Palin.
“What you're seeing is the first shot in the war against Sarah Palin,” said Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips. “Karl Rove is a very shrewd political operative. Getting himself into trouble is not what’s going on,” added Phillips, who earlier this year organized the Tea Party convention, where Palin was the headline speaker.
“Karl Rove–bless his heart–has been wrong all summer long when it comes to having any idea of what conservative Americans want,” said Levi Russell, spokesperson for the Tea Party Express by email. “The difference is that Rove is a D.C. analyst, and Sarah Palin is a leader.” Russell described Palin as “unquestionably the most electrifying figure in politics today,” while Rove “strikes me as a guy who would cross his arms and scowl at the thought of some Hollywood actor named Reagan running for Governor of California.”
Damning by faint praise, Russell went on to say: “Personally I’ve always liked Rove, but it is painfully obvious that he is losing his connection with the American people, and no longer has his finger on the very strong pulse of the conservative movement in this country, which is fueled by the tea party and figures such as Gov. Palin.”
In an interview with the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Rove on Wednesday questioned Palin’s suitability for the presidency, citing her reality-TV show, Sarah Palin’s Alaska, which will air next month.
“There are high standards that the American people have for it [the presidency] and they require a certain level of gravitas, and they want to look at the candidate and say 'that candidate is doing things that gives me confidence that they are up to the most demanding job in the world’,” Rove said.
Rove was the architect of the Bush presidency—and a big-tent vision of the Republican Party he hoped would long outlast 43’s time in the White House. But by the time Bush left office, his approval ratings had sunk so low that many conservatives ran away from his legacy, and avoided even mentioning his name.
As the Obama presidency used the force of the federal government to try to tame an economy in ruins, a grass-roots brigade of Tea Partiers rose up—reacting against Big Government and eager to revive a Republican Party in limbo.
With Obama’s declining fortunes, Rove has reasserted himself, funneling rivers of newly unrestricted campaign cash into an effort to aid Republican candidates nationwide. As Election Day draws near, the infighting between Rove and the Tea Partiers has grown more intense—jockeying for primacy over the direction of the party, a battle that could shape the presidential election in 2012.
The Palin attack wasn’t Rove’s first swipe at the Tea Party movement.
When Christine O’Donnell won the GOP Delaware primary, Rove went on Fox News and expressed concern about her “character,” adding she had been saying “a lot of nutty things.” Palin quickly came to O’Donnell’s defense, also on Fox News, telling Rove to “buck up.”
O’Donnell didn’t return the favor on Thursday, as she was too busy with her campaign for the Senate seat to comment, a spokesperson said. Her team did, however, emailed a note from conservative strategist and Reagan biographer, Craig Shirley. “Before criticizing Sarah Palin, Mr. Rove might remember that Ronald Reagan once hosted a couple of television shows including G.E. Theater and Death Valley Days,” Shirley said.
On Thursday, there were new hints that Palin is interested in the presidency as Entertainment Tonight promoted an upcoming interview with Palin in which she says she’ll run in 2012, “if there’s nobody else to do it.”
Whether she can win, though, is an open question. According to a poll released earlier this month, 64 percent of Americans believe she would not make an effective president.
“What Rove is saying, and other Republicans are saying, [is that] if you look at the polls, Palin is not qualified to be president,” said Republican strategist John Feehery, adding that this may be the opening salvo in the fight for the Republican soul. “Once this election is over, we start the next campaign,” he said. “Whoever is our presidential candidate is going to be the one who’s going to be defining Republican policies,” Feehery said. “There are a lot of people who love Sarah Palin who think Karl Rove is off his rocker, and there starts the competition.”
Rove, who has raised millions of dollars for the Republican Party during this election cycle, also talked about a possible Palin candidacy as he appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday. The architect of Bush’s two election wins displayed his trademark cool.
“Look, there are going to be several geological ages that are going to come and go before the 2012 Republican presidential nomination fight gels,” he said.
Apparently only non-RINO conservatives need gravitis. Obama? Nope - the Daily Show, others like it, “scoop the poo,” wee-weed up, etc, ad nauseum. GW? Nope - at least according to the LSM, he was a bumbling fool. Clinton? Nope - thanks for making oral sex and stained dresses part of the nightly news. Carter? Nope - scared of a mean little bunny rabbit.
Karl, you are out of touch, and you have become what you used to oppose.
I started listening to Hugh Hewitt 20 years ago, I don’t think that he has changed, he was always so pollyannish that after a couple of elections I learned to disregard his always positive outlook, he is a devious little prig that like Medved, pushes an agenda that is always slightly to the left of much of his audience.
In the last two years I barely listen to him because of his anti-(not overtly) Palin agenda, I know that recently he has had to jump onto the conservative band wagon for awhile, but he is no conservative.
Remember that Hugh Hewitt wanted Mitt Romney to run, and wrote a book about him to sell the guy to conservatives, and that was written to overcome social conservatives objections, that is the real Hugh Hewitt, always pushing conservatives just a little bit to the left when he isn’t outright bashing them and hanging up on them.
No more of your Romney like liberals, get behind a conservative leader like Governor Palin.
Everyone knows that Romney (or someone like him, if need be) is the presidential hopeful of the moderate Republican branch, but do they know that Romney left the GOP in protest against the conservative victory of Ronald Reagan?
Mitt Romney: "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush."
Mitt Romney: "I'm not a partisan politician. My hope is that, after this election, it will be the moderates of both parties who will control the Senate, not the Jesse Helmses."
This time it isn't a Ronald Reagan fighting them alone, this time with a young vigorous "Reagan in a skirt" and a national army of tea partiers, and a true national, conservative movement, Roves branch of the GOP is under actual threat of being driven from leadership and replaced, as Palin unites the conservative branch of the GOP, and harnesses the right's third party energy and focuses it instead on capturing and rebuilding the GOP
Start collecting a list of all the hidden moderates that have been dragged into the sunlight since Palin emerged on the national scene, columnists, radio hosts, politicians, political strategists, many major stars of Republicanism have been outed as anti-conservatives in the last 2 years, and we used to trust those people, Karl Rove is outed, and has been driven to take off the gloves to stop us, he is now actually campaigning against Republican efforts in the last 6 days of an election cycle.
You're being kind & giving Rove a lot of leeway. If you're correct & Rove is looking out for our best & brightest Conservatives, trashing them repeatedly & ruining their reputations in this election & the 2012 election pretty much eliminates them from any political future. With his help & the opposition trashing them - with the main stream media aiding & abetting - pretty much ruins any chance the might have.
We need to actually admit what the facts are showing. The Republican Party bosses & Rove are NOT going to promote any Conservative candidate. They will expect the 'Conservative Plantation' to keep voting for their RINO choices, whether we like them or not!!
That was yesterday & this is today. The Conservatives have had it & he needs to shut his fat mouth & get out of our way. It's time to do some trashing of Rove to give him some of his own medicine.
I also think that Rove has some other Romney type in mind, such as Daniels.
I use Romney as a kind of generic candidate example for that branch of the GOP, Romney is fine for them if they think that his baggage can be overcome, but they will have backups, and any of them will do just as well for their interests.
You butchered the quote and left off the context.
LOL!
What you said BUMP!
Rove has just totally lost me. A lot of my complaints about W have now been explained if he was listening to this leftist.
I bet that Rove and Romney will NEVER admit Rove is working for Romney. I wonder why? I know the reason and everybody else does too.
But...(you knew this was coming, lol!)...all the qualities of "leadership" are for naught (sic) if you are going to depend on your experts/appointees to find the solutions...it's not so hard to identify problems, but it can be very difficult to find the right solution!
BTW, Fallin (GOP) had exactly the right interview answer re: "How has your experience as a woman...blah blah, whatever it was...prepared you to be governor?"...not really relevent!! Stupid question! Electing leaders cannot be about gender or race or seniority politics...who can best do the job of "leader of the free world" at any given time??
It's not enough to be inspiring...ability to understand intricate and complex issues, make the right crucial decisions, and then manage the outcome on a hard line is required too...
That's why Obama's such a dread...too ideological, too indecisive and influenced by his backers/advisors/donors, and no ability to manage real outcomes (thank goodness!) without resorting to "car" analogies...how stupid does he think we are?
As conservatives, we can't afford to run on inspiration alone (not to imply that's all Palin has), when the decks are currently so stacked...you can't turn the "ship of state" on a dime, and I just hope our best younger people don't run prematurely!
That said...I repeat...NO McCain, Romney, or Huckabee for President again! They had their chance(s), don't have the timbre...
May well be Palin will come out for 2012, and be ready, but I suspect someone else (?) will turn out to be a better choice this time, and she will be the next one, gangbusters! ; )
LOL! LMAO! I love that well-turned descriptive language!! Permission to use as a general description? ; )
You are right about Hugh...we never listen to him anymore unless we have no other options...he used to be more interesting, and still sometimes has good guest interviews, but more and more he has a tendency to be incredibly tedious, "preachy" on whatever his "topic of the day" is, and not very relevent to the news of the day. Plus, he's really good at mailing in the show with a two-hour pre-recorded interview with some author who's equally tedious, preachy, etc...!
JMHO, of course.
If that's "all" it takes to ruin anyone's chances, then they're either not able to stand for President, or they're not ready to fight back effectively enough yet...a lot more will be coming their way in the "big race", and do consider the idea of a preliminary "trial by fire"...
"The Republican Party bosses & Rove are NOT going to promote any Conservative candidate. They will expect the 'Conservative Plantation' to keep voting for their RINO choices, whether we like them or not!!"
I'm not convinced Rove is that stupid, nor am I convinced he really likes RINOS...the objective is to move the lines toward the goal. He thinks like a chess player, whereas most normal people think more like football players (GO BUCKS!!) - for example, if the super-RINO Castle were nominated in Delaware, he would be elected for certain, and AT LEAST would vote against Harry Reid as Majority Leader, along with supporting a % of other Conservative initiatives. OTOH, if O'Donnell is elected, she would support ALL Conservative initiatives presumeably, but if she is NOT elected, Cooms (is that right?) will support all liberal/socialist agenda items...and it's very iffy O'Donnell can take this race.
Bird in the hand? Foot in the door? I ramble on, you decide...LOL! ; )
Excellent.
I agree with your description, and that matches my listening experience with him as well, I tune in at the opening to see if he is interviewing someone interesting, and if not, I move on.
I am very much one of you. I have a plaque at RNC headquarters. Karl Rove is doing his job: as an analyst. The good money says you were gloryfing him last year. I dare anyone to check your posts.If you did you are a hypocrite. And you will be glorifying him next year when this all blows over.
I hate to break the news to you so has Sarah Palin and Christine O’ Donnell broken the 11th commandment.
Hahaha I feel the same way.
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