Karl Rove was the architect of Bush's policy to NEVER respond, refute, or fight against any Marxist slime attack, no matter how outrageous. Therefore, Bush became the pinata where everything stuck to him and to Republicans. The Republican brand was badly damaged because Rove decided it was better never to attack, fight or set the record straight.
Next up, Palin, Rove hated Palin and left her to twist in the wind. In fact, I submit, Rove actually reinforced the Left’s attack on Palin — and it stuck, and we lost.
Now Rove has basically run Romney's campaign and we see all the hallmarks of Rove’s strategy of crushing Republican primary opponents with brutal attacks, and then meekly going after Obama due to his deathly FEAR of offending a soccer mom or someone along the way.
The result of Romney's campaign is entirely consistent with how Rove views Republicans and how he totally submits to Democrats out of some false fear of a backlash or being labeled extreme. This is classic Rove.
Conservatives have been screaming at Bush to respond! Defend yourself (and us) from all these slanderous attacks, but Rove, I'm quite sure, ruled the roost and counseled against it.
Do we see the Rove pattern here?
Brutally attack other Republicans and then offer a timid, flaccid campaign against a Democrat out of abject fear of offending some mythic soccer mom or some independent somewhere. Guess what? Romney won the independents fairly convincingly... and LOST the election!
Tell me, why is anyone listening to Rove? Why does Rove have a job anywhere??
you too will love this book.....as every thing you say is laid out over 20 years with history, irony, humor and a touch of peppery anger and indignation. Oh yes, and ridicule.
It continues today. Over the past four years, the GOP’s sat silently as conservatives have been attacked.
Just off the top of my head.....
They’ve given credence to the left’s meme that right-wing political rhetoric was somehow to blame for Giffords’ shooting by joining in on the bi-partisan seating at the SOTU addresses.
During one round of debt ceiling debates, conservatives were routinely called jihadists and terrorists and there wasn’t a peep out of the GOP over that.
Nobody in the establishment challenged the lies that tea partiers spat on or called black democrats the “n” word.
Nothing but silence over the left-wing violence and intimidation tactics used against conservative reporters, activists, business owners, etc.
It seems that the GOP is glad to let the democrats do their dirty work. Through its silence, the GOP endorses it, because they detest conservatives nearly as much as democrats do.