Tell that to Karl Rove.
I wish I could tell it to Karl Rove.
Posting this on Free Republic where his staff are likely to see it is the best I can do.
This internal bickering needs to stop. Rove got what he wanted — breathing space for moderate Republicans in difficult races — and I can understand his reasons even if I don't agree with his tactics.
I know full well that what works in Missouri won't work in Massachusetts. Around here in the Ozarks, even the local Democratic Party leaders are generally more conservative than some of the people in the national GOP leadership. I think it's about time that the national GOP understands that what works inside the Beltway in Washington won't necessarily work back in people's home districts back in “flyover land” — and getting to 50-percent-plus-one of the House and the Senate means listening to what works back in the district, not just what sounds good in Washington.
One more thing for any Karl Rove staff members reading this post — Claire McCaskill has made a point of portraying herself as a moderate conservative who, unlike lots of leftwing Democrats, actually listens to rural Missouri. She and the Carnahan family both know that for a Democrat to win in a statewide race, they need to appeal to the older conservative rural voters who one generation ago were still Democrats. Even when Democrats don't win rural counties, if they keep the Republican vote totals down, a Democrat can win by overwhelming dominance of the urban centers and college towns.
Claire McCaskill, Jay Nixon, the Carnahan family, and other Democrats have proven by a record of winning many (though not all) statewide elections that they understand what works in rural Missouri and how to win.
Does Karl Rove?
It would be very unfortunate if the answer is “no.”