Posted on 10/27/2010 7:35:57 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
First came the criticism of O’Donnell on the night she won the primary, then came the knock on tea partiers for being unsophisticated, which earned him Rush’s ire. Now this.
Is he … trying to alienate grassroots conservatives? And if so, why?
“With all due candour, appearing on your own reality show on the Discovery Channel, I am not certain how that fits in the American calculus of ‘that helps me see you in the Oval Office’,” Mr Rove told The Daily Telegraph in an interview.
He added that the promotional clip for Sarah Palin’s Alaska could be especially detrimental to any political campaign. It features the mother of five in the great outdoors saying: “I would rather be doing this than in some stuffy old political office.”…
Mr Rove was asked if the 46-year-old Mrs Palin, who is among the front-runners for the next Republican nomination, would be a wise choice if the party wanted to seize the White House from President Barack Obama. He replied: “You can make a plausible case for any of them on paper, but it is not going to be paper in 2011. It’s going to be blood, it’s going to be sweat and tears and it’s going to be hard effort.”…
“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’.”
His excuse for this will be that he’s just being honest, as he’s duty bound to be when he has his commentator hat on, but no one on either side gives Karl Rove that little credit strategically. If he thought there was advantage to be had here in ducking the question, I’m sure he would have done so. Three theories, then: (1) This is pure payback for Palin needling him on the night of O’Donnell’s victory, calling him a “good old boy” who’s part of the GOP establishment “machine.” (2) This is him trying to run down a formidable presidential contender so that his own candidate of choice in the primary will benefit. Who that candidate might be, I don’t know, and maybe Rove doesn’t know yet either. But Daniels is, of course, a Bush alum, and Rove had some very nice things to say about him just a few weeks ago. (3) This is a ploy to try to reorient Republicans who are leery about Palin back towards the “establishment” and away from the tea-party grassroots. It’s one thing for the average conservative joe to harbor doubts about her, but if a guy who helped get George Bush elected twice is hint-hinting that she’s disqualifying herself by doing this, it may goose the perception among undecideds that she’s unelectable.
Exit question: Isn’t the response to this simply that Palin plays by her own rules and is playing … pretty darned well right now? The reality show is unorthodox, but being authentic and unpretentious and outdoorsy have always been key to her appeal, and the show feeds all of that. No doubt Rove would have said three months ago that appearing on Maher’s show in the 90s meant that O’Donnell could never beat Mike Castle, and yet here we are. Voters turned viciously on the GOP in 2006 and 2008 and now they’re about to turn viciously on Democrats; they’re utterly exasperated with what they’re getting from Washington, in which case if there’s ever a moment to try something out-of-the-box, now would be it. High risk, but high reward too.
Update: The AP’s seen the first eight episodes of the show and has nice things to say.
Come to find out, the only dopes they roped were their supporters.
That is not fair and is not true. If you think it is then prove it.
BTW, who is your pick. I can only guess and I bet I'm probably right.
When did he make those compromises? anything before O is old news. Hindsight is 20-20. We are now in survival mode and most of these rinos know it. Even Snow and collins voted no ! This is social consciousness raising. We all will swing right and radicalize as we find our way of life threatened. let these guys get on board. McCain is not the problem, communism is
I was a radical leftist in the sixties. I know these people. America is experiencing the second revolution. You got to get in peoples heads. Americans are becoming conscious of the American identity. 9-11 and Obama have shown us that we are unique and special. time to deal with this reality and preserve our way of life. The only thing constant is change.
LOL! U right about that . haha
Rove wants to be the new Dick Morris, in reverse.
I wish Hannity wouldn’t give him such kudos for this teaparty ground swell! His republican party is not the republican party we are voting for. I can hardly wait to see Sarah in the white house! He doesn’t have a clue what is going on. He is the status quo that we are sick of.
There are a small number on the national stage who have always been "conscious of the American identity". They never needed to "move to the right", as you suggest some, like McCain, are doing. Your transformation was based on ideals, presumably without thought of personal gain. For the professional politician, unlike you, it is a cynical calculation of advantage.
Consider supporting the record of someone who has always been there, not what some now say for popular consumption. Consider McCain/Feingold, RomneyCare, GeezerDope, etc. Then look at Palin, Demint, Bachman, etc.
Newt engineered ‘94, balanced a budget and newtered(no pun intended) Clinton.
Newt also sat on a couch with Nancy Pelosi, and bought into the AGW Crap that will eventually bring us Cap & Trade that will bankrupt this country
McCain served 5 years in the Hanoi hilton,
I don't give a rats A$$! Serving in the Hanoi Hilton didn't give this back stabber a pass to prohibit free speech with McCain-Feingold on american citizens!
Romney made 100 mil capitalist $$$$$$
And just what does this have to do with him cursing Mass. with Socialized Medicine in RomneyCare?
Huck is an evangelist minister
The Huckster also supports Comprehensive Immigration Reform..AMNESTY!
Are you really this dumb?
Dana Perrino bugs me to no end. She’s just like her old boss...accepts the Dems premise on most topics!
Sean is NO Rush...or Mark! Speaking of which, you got to think that Mark Levin must get on his case privately about the way Sean sucks up to RINOs. I mean they’re supposed to be friends.
Friends don’t let friends play kissy face with RINOs!
Nah, he's a duplicitous, little, fat man who believes he 'matters'.
I cringe every time Hannity calls this invertebrate the "architect". Geo W Bush only won his first election by a few hundred votes in Florida, and the second by approx 15k votes in Ohio.
Not exactly 'going-away victories' one might attribute to a political genius.
To 17 - LOL Perfect!
So did Reagan, (our greatest POTUS along w/Jefferson), will you begrudge him also?
What would you have had Palin said, "no thanks"?
How can you be so sure? As soon as he is re-elected next week, his pattern has been to revert to the opportunist he is and seek positive media attention by abandoning the conservatives and "reaching across the aisle."
Maybe, this time, he won't. We'll see.
But, in my opinion, McCain simply cannot be trusted -- particularly if he is freshly re-elected.
Oh, and by the way, McCain-Feingold and "comprehensive immigration reform" were NOT "compromises". They sprang full-blown from McCain's brow.
Mark Levin: “Rove is becoming our Joe Biden!”
TGO nails him...again!
Something sadly lacking in too many politicians.
after moogly the man cub, my dog is qualified
It used to be just the females who were livid with jealousy over Sarah. Now Rove... Pathetic.
“She ran with the biggest rino of all...”
It’s more like “the biggest RINO of all ran with Sarah”. She was actually the top candidate on that ticket whether McCain wants to believe that or not. In people’s minds, he had second billing.
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