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Rove Sells Election Spin; Some in GOP Aren't Buying
Yahoo ^

Posted on 11/15/2006 11:39:25 AM PST by Sub-Driver

Rove Sells Election Spin; Some in GOP Aren't Buying

By Kenneth T. Walsh 25 minutes ago

White House political architect Karl Rove is back on the offensive, offering an aggressively positive spin on last Tuesday's elections.

He is telling GOP operatives and organizers that things weren't as bad as they seemed and that the news media have been exaggerating the extent of GOP losses.

"There was a rush to say there was a huge wave against the Republican Party," says a Republican strategist who is close to Rove. "That was premature."

For example, Rove says many races went down to the wire--there were 35 House contests in which the winner got 51 percent of the vote or less--suggesting that the country is still closely divided between Republicans and Democrats. In the 18 races decided by 8,000 or fewer votes, the GOP won 12 and lost six, Rove says. Rove argues that there was a bad "environment" for the GOP, one marked by stories of scandal and corruption, intensified by the unpopularity of the Iraq war and President Bush.

Rove estimates that 10 House seats were lost to the GOP specifically because of one-time scandals and that those losses weren't due to any flawed strategy on his part. Rove also says the results were not outside the norm in which a president's party generally suffers losses in congressional elections in his sixth year. In addition, Rove tells glum Republicans that the party "saved" eight to 14 GOP candidates because of its vaunted 72-hour plan to get out the GOP vote.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: rymb
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To: Just A Nobody
Says who.....the Enemedia? Yeah, that's who said it. For Karl to now repeat their lies disgusts me.

Read the full context. He's not repeating their lies, he's pointing them out. (emphasis mine)

Rove argues that there was a bad "environment" for the GOP, one marked by stories of scandal and corruption, intensified by the unpopularity of the Iraq war and President Bush.

81 posted on 11/15/2006 1:17:54 PM PST by BigSkyFreeper (There is no alternative to the GOP except varying degrees of insanity)
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To: My2Cents

yes, we have too many wimpy come backs. Tony Snow was a good move but trent lott is a bad move.

I will not abandon Rove just because he lost, but I will not support a loser mentality.

Fine Mr. Rove, the races were close. Fine Mr. Rove, the MSM is against us. Fine Mr. Rove, even FNC was against us.

They USE the new media!
Get the message out so that the MSM has to cover it.
Be the Elephant in the living room.


82 posted on 11/15/2006 1:19:57 PM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: PhiKapMom
Rove blew this election IMHO! I drank the koolaid based on many things that we were going to be okay in the House and Senate but instead we were going to lose close seats because we had no ground and no real message except scare tactics.

Rove didn't blow anything, if anyone was blowing anything it was the media blowing smoke. Too many people believe the dinosaur media is dying. I believe just the opposite.

Rove pointed that out, and too many FReepers have jumped the gun on this whole article.

I'm not saying I disagree with you PKM, quite the contrary. You're an articulate poster, and have served the cause well.

Too many people are just sour over the election results, looking for bad news wherever it hides.

The media has carried the Democrat's water for a long damn time.

The Democrats won on NO AGENDA, and they didn't bother to tell everyone what the agenda was until last Wednesday.

83 posted on 11/15/2006 1:25:26 PM PST by BigSkyFreeper (There is no alternative to the GOP except varying degrees of insanity)
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To: justshutupandtakeit

Where did you read that I blamed Rove for Allen's defeat? I never said that, never meant that and never implied that. Can you not read simple English?


84 posted on 11/15/2006 1:27:16 PM PST by pgkdan
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To: sarasota
I remember W saying, at his press conference the day after the election, that he thought we'd win, followed by "That shows you how much I know."

It's called bucking up the troops. Coaches do that all the time. President Bush had a 50% chance of being right. It's a virtue of being human. He's neither a god or a deity, and the last time I looked, he wasn't walking on water.

85 posted on 11/15/2006 1:29:08 PM PST by BigSkyFreeper (There is no alternative to the GOP except varying degrees of insanity)
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To: My2Cents
Finesse is no way to win an election or a war. You need to play to win, each and every time. If you aren't sure you have enough to win, fake it and try harder until even your opposition thinks you are going to massacre them. PsyOps only works if the other side thinks you can back it up.
86 posted on 11/15/2006 1:29:59 PM PST by anymouse
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To: Sub-Driver

Somewhere, under this huge pile of manure, there just *has* to be a pony!


87 posted on 11/15/2006 1:31:18 PM PST by ReignOfError
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To: justshutupandtakeit

Allen -and Talent - needed more money at the end. Rove should not have spent a dime on that turncoat Lincoln Chaffee. Allen shot himself in the mouth and that awful Fox commercial did Talent in. A pity because Talent is a good guy. very sad.


88 posted on 11/15/2006 1:37:17 PM PST by juliej
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To: kenth

Darn you! You caught me just after my first swig of evening brew.

Now its’ all over my keyboard and monitor!


89 posted on 11/15/2006 1:38:03 PM PST by FMBass ("Now that I'm sober I watch a lot of news"- Garofalo from Coulter's "Treason")
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To: Sub-Driver

Bush got what he wanted, a liberal congress to accept his "comprehensive immigration BS."


90 posted on 11/15/2006 1:41:23 PM PST by drypowder
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To: eyespysomething

LOL--funniest post evAr!!!!111

That one made my day, so thankya! :D


91 posted on 11/15/2006 1:43:02 PM PST by A.P.M.
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To: My2Cents; PhiKapMom

Thanks for remembering my interest in this matter, My2Cents.

And I see we are all three of us in agreement. The WH did not defend itself at all against the "Bush lies" mantra and the WMD issues and it will forevermore remain a mystery why.

All it's done is embolden the Democrats to say the most outrageous and untrue things which in turn has delighted the jihadists.

I have a feeling we'll never know the answer to this. It's puzzling and maddening. And many days I wondered why I was bothering to defend a man against charges he wasn't himself defending against.


92 posted on 11/15/2006 1:44:36 PM PST by Peach (The Clintons pardoned more terrorists than they captured or killed.)
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To: longtermmemmory
but trent lott is a bad move

You got that right! Talk about tone-deaf.

93 posted on 11/15/2006 1:53:06 PM PST by My2Cents
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To: Sub-Driver

The cold hard fact is that the Democrats have a majority in both Houses of Congress.

Another fact is that they always controlled the Senate Now there are more Democrats than Republican members.

I suppose, if one wished, one could say that the Republicans only lost control of the House.


94 posted on 11/15/2006 1:57:22 PM PST by sport
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To: Sub-Driver

"For example, Rove says many races went down to the wire--there were 35 House contests in which the winner got 51 percent of the vote or less--suggesting that the country is still closely divided between Republicans and Democrats. In the 18 races decided by 8,000 or fewer votes, the GOP won 12 and lost six, Rove says. Rove argues that there was a bad "environment" for the GOP, one marked by stories of scandal and corruption, intensified by the unpopularity of the Iraq war and President Bush.

Rove estimates that 10 House seats were lost to the GOP specifically because of one-time scandals and that those losses weren't due to any flawed strategy on his part. Rove also says the results were not outside the norm in which a president's party generally suffers losses in congressional elections in his sixth year. In addition, Rove tells glum Republicans that the party "saved" eight to 14 GOP candidates because of its vaunted 72-hour plan to get out the GOP vote."

This is all true.

Why the controversy? Maybe because that act of 'saving some GOP' candidates wasnt quite good enough, and it is scary that it could have been worse, and unfortunate that we couldnt do just a *little* bit better to cut House losses to under 20 and keep the senate.

I expected 12-18 losses in the House and -3 in the Senate, and was frankly shocked at how bad we did. We muffed it big-time and there is plenty of blame to share around.


95 posted on 11/15/2006 2:00:21 PM PST by WOSG (The 4-fold path to save America - Think right, act right, speak right, vote right!)
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To: Sioux-san

I don't think they know what kind of world their creating!
He**, they don't either!!!!


96 posted on 11/15/2006 2:02:42 PM PST by buck61
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To: Peach

Dittos. It's exasperating, and, as I think we both know, it's dangerous, considering the kind of world we live in. When we're engaged in the biggest civilizational struggle for survival since the latter days of the Roman Empire, you can't afford to let the other side (which doesn't believe there's anything good about western civilization worth defending) win.


97 posted on 11/15/2006 2:02:59 PM PST by My2Cents
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To: WOSG
there were 35 House contests in which the winner got 51 percent of the vote or less

This isn't very comforting. How many of these toss-up districts were considered "safe Republican" 2, or 4, or 6 years ago? It appears that a case can be made that the narrow "Republican majority" in this country has slipped away. I think this can all be turned around within two years, but it's going to take a rejuvenated Republican Party with a new vision and message.

98 posted on 11/15/2006 2:06:43 PM PST by My2Cents
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To: Sub-Driver

Rove's day has come and gone - Carl, Texas is calling you. It's time to saddle your horse and ride off into the sunset.


99 posted on 11/15/2006 2:07:50 PM PST by hgro
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To: Sub-Driver

I'm feeling much better now, thank you Karl.[sarc/off]


100 posted on 11/15/2006 2:12:05 PM PST by reelfoot
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