Rove claims corruption not Iraq cost Republicans election

http://townhall.com/columnists/RobertDNovak/2007/07/28/roves_diagnosis ^

[martinidon]

Karl Rove, President Bush's political lieutenant, told a closed-door meeting of 2008 Republican House candidates and their aides Tuesday that it was less the war in Iraq than corruption in Congress that caused their party's defeat in the 2006 elections.

[AppyPappy]

Rove doesn’t have a clue. While the Republicans were sitting around with their thumb up their butt, the Democrats were pushing their agenda so they won the election. The problem for the Dems is that the Democrats haven’t done schick since the election. They have no agenda. What little they have done has been met with white teeth and steppin feet by the Republicans. The Republicans need to start sounding off about the impotence of the Democrats.

The great thing is that the Democrats can’t do anything without drawing the ire of the peace and impeachment nutbags.

[N. Theknow]

More likely it was Repubs trying to out-lib liberals.

[bassmaner]

CNN was close to outright on the side of the Democrats wanting a party change.

Fixed it.

[SevenMinusOne]

Rove is correct - It wasn't the WOT/Iraq that cost the Republicans (other than, they didn't tout our successes enough regarding it!).

It has much more to do with Immigration, MSM's one-sided highlight of corruption on the GOP end...and the reality of history where the party out of power has always picked up seats in the 6th year of a POTUS -

The GOP candidate wins in 08, if he stands firm on victory in the WOT/Iraq (touts our successes), is firm on immigration and continued tax policy of GWB.

The DEMs lose on NS/WOT.....which is why the MSM are trying all they can to get the GOP to run away from those issues...

[Popocatapetl]

I’d argue with Rove that corruption was just a symptom of a lack of strong leadership to congressional republicans from either the President, the RNC, or the congressional leadership.

That is why the House has a “Whip”. To keep the coffle in line. When a congressman or senator decided to break ranks, he should have been strongly disciplined from day one. Such independence is no more tolerable among congressmen than it is in a military formation.

[Sudetenland]

You're right of course but...Good luck making that argument around here. Too many self-righteous "I'm a Conservative and I won't support anyone else" people around here.

Better the Clinton S.S.R. than some candidate that doesn't meet their conservative "Litmus tests."

[ANGGAPO]

You might add that the MSM have mining for Republican bad behavior for six years in hopes of finding something that would stick.

[Oldhunk]

I think we conservatives have to share some of the blame. Going into the 2004 election, it was apparent that the Republican Congress and W were turning into the biggest spenders in history. All completely corrupted by special interests. We were fat dumb and happy having all the power and did not hold their feet to the fire. Maybe if we had screamed out the way we did against amnesty, things might be different today.

[Tarpon]

I would read it, but I have sworn off the Rove stuff for good. Blame others, not very suave.

Maccaca and Foley the last straws. Spend like drunken sailors, the first straws. And in between we had the earmark stupor. Which has been all fixed with a word change now.

Iraq was a message failure, and who would it be that was in charge of that message? In charge of countering the lies and false claims?

No more Clintons, no more Bushes, I am going cold turkey from here on out.

[Chi-townChief]

He forgot about the president causing Hurricane Katrina. Probably the biggest reason.

[radioman]

Better the Clinton S.S.R. than some candidate that doesn't meet their conservative "Litmus tests."

Limited government is the only test that counts and Republicans have failed that test. Why vote for a big government Republican when you can get the real deal with a Democrat.
.

[caisson71]

I believe the case can be made that the anger in 2004 against Republicans as it related to the ballot box was just wrong headed. A vote against Republicans in spite of the consequences we now experience with a Dimocrap Congress should be a wakeup call. I’m not saying that all Republicans should have been reelected but Republican alternatives would have been better.

[muawiyah]

The Dems did a pretty good job convincing the voting public that the Republicans were infested with pedophiles and openly cruising gays ~ and that Hastert and other Republican leaders just didn't care.

Not sure that helped the Dems with their little gay friends but it worked with the Republican base.

The recent discovery that an adult male Republican, David Vitter, actually liked girls, quickly disappeared from the news once the Dems and their running dog MSM lackeys realized that was undermining the pedophile routine that was so successful in the last election.

[festus]

Corruption and doing nothing for conservatives from ‘06 to ‘08

[redgirlinabluestate]

Rove is partially right. I think we will have a much better chance of success in 08 if our nominee is a squeaky clean outsider with little to no baggage.

[mad_as_he$$]

Yea well I claim Rove cost the Republicans the election.