It was sure smart of KR to get the Swift Boat Veterans and POWs organized against JF Kerry
as well as motivate all those millions of Evangelicals that he said didnt vote last time to vote this time as well as all the Catholics...
David Brooks quite convincingly shows that Bush didn't win because of the "Evangelicals" coming out, but by ALL Republicans coming out in force. Rove's strategy was to get ALL Republicans to come out and vote, while Kerry focused too strongly on just the battleground states.
> It was sure smart of KR to get the Swift Boat Veterans ...
Well, keep in mind this is WaPo talking.
They are unwilling to consider that Kerry lost because of
Kerry (or Clinton). The explanation has to lie elsewhere,
and Rove has been a convenient figure they can spin as the
sinister mastermind.
I agree with your observation. Rove theory alone would have
lost. It took:
- SBVFT & POWs (that Rove would have preferred be quiet)
- Evangelicals self-organizing (beyond any Rove effort)
- Astonishing Kerry gaffes that Rove could not control
- Usama bin Laden injecting himself into the campaign
- and a bunch of other stuff at the margin that was not
part of The Architect's grand strategy
Karl Rove had nothing to do with the Swiftboat vets. They were their own group, organized by themselves with absolutely no ties to the Bush campaign. More than a few of them are democrats. They were united against Kerry, not necessarily pro-Bush.
I truly don't believe that Rove organized any Swiftboat Veterans. I think the Swiftees had their own agenda. It was not even Pro-Bush. It was "anybody but Kerry".
Yep. I hope he is still around in 08.