Near the end of the first act of the Broadway musical “The Phantom of the Opera,” the phantom grows increasingly agitated because Christine is not fully under his control. His reasons are selfish — he wants her to himself. In the stunning climax the Phantom screams “So it shall be war between us,” and drops the chandelier on the opera house audience.
Karl Rove has decided he is the Phantom of the Republican party, angry that he cannot control the tea party and maintain his relevance as a party broker, so he has decided to drop a chandelier on the party.
Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the ‘biggest donors in the Republican Party’ have joined forces with Karl Rove and Steven J. Law, president of American Crossroads, to create the Conservative Victory Project. The Times reports that this new group will dedicate itself to ‘recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts who Republican leaders worry could complicate the party’s effort to win control of the Senate.’ The group points to candidates like Christine O’Donnell in Delaware and Richard Mourdock in Indiana as examples of Tea Party primary picks going sideways in major Senatorial battles.
But it is American Crossroads and its ilk that have run the GOP into the ground. Spending millions of dollars on useless 30,000-ft. advertising campaigns during the last election cycle, training candidates to soften conservatism in order to appeal to ‘moderates,’ blowing up the federal budget under George W. Bush as a bipartisan tactic — all of those strategies led the party to a disastrous defeat in 2012. The Tea Party, which may nominate losers from time to time, also brought the Republicans their historic 2010 Congressional victory. If Tea Party candidates lose, it’s because they weren’t good candidates; if GOP establishment candidates lose, it’s because they weren’t good conservatives. The choice for actual conservatives should be easy.
But it isn’t. The Bush insider team that helped lead to the rise of Barack Obama insists that they, and only they, know the path to victory. As the Times reports, Conservative Victory Project won’t merely protect incumbents — it will challenge sitting Congresspeople of the Tea Party variety, including six-term Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, who may run for Senate. ‘We’re concerned about Steve King’s Todd Akin problem,’ Law told the Times – with whom he seems far too friendly. ‘This is an example of candidate discipline and how it would play in a general election. All of the things he’s said are going to be hung around his neck.’
If Rove spent the money taking those conservative candidate under his wing and schooling them on how to be better candidates, it might be a worthwhile endeavor. Instead he is trying to split the party because those newly active “tea partiers” are not listening to his orders, thus making him irrelevant.
Rove forgets that it was the “tea party” that gave the GOP its house majority in 2010. What’s more, tea party activists are more loyal to the ideals they believe necessary to save the country than they are to any specific party. In other words they are very willing to go elsewhere … so be very careful.
Jeff Dunetz is Editor/Publisher of the Political Blog, The Lid
Um…
When I think of Karl Rove, I get the immediate impression of a tweaky self important hustler who ends up being the perfect useful idiot for a much more sophisticated “other”. His meltdown on election night about calling Ohio, was telling. He was so impressed with himself that he could not possibly have miscalculated… Of course he had, in all “battleground states”. I live in Virginia… specifically Northern Virginia (thankfully far outside the beltway, but it’s still NOVA and I know my state and my specific voting area. )
There were no ads on TV, no weekly campaign events, and no “Truth Telling” ads designed to keep up the knowledge of the reality of the Obummer Regime for months…
The Establishment via Rove and his cronies worked to “fix” the GOP nominating process for their favored candidate (The Man from Mittstinia), and therefore drained all energy from the base. The primary was a joke, most Republicans were livid at the way it was manipulated, and Ron Paul actually looked like a viable alternative for many.
Then after the fix job for the Primary… The Romney campaign virtually evaporated. They even cancelled their one big event at Battlefield High School because of Sandy, they never rescheduled… Meanwhile the Obambi machine packed in the crowds in several events in several public venues.. working around the storm, and keeping the troops and drones enthralled.
Oh! I forgot… ROBOCALLS… Some low rent DIMBULB has bought into the fundamentally insane notion that ROBOCALLS are big winners with the voting public.
OK and GOP functionaries or few worker bees who actually read political blogs… here comes the clue bat [swinging now]
PEOPLE HATE ROBOCALLS!!! They don’t just hate them, the despise them with ever fiber of their bodies. Have you not heard of the “Do Not Call List”? Stupid brain dead, self-important politicians exempted themselves from the legislation, but people wanted that bill for a reason. ROBOCALLS drive away voters!… get that through your tin-eared concrete block heads… NOBODY wants to be bothered by them, and their effect is a huge net negative.
Knocking on random doors is also stupid. It’s difficult for the volunteers, people are rude and more often than not voluntarily ignorant or malignantly so.
Also… please quit the idiotic junk mail flyers. A few are fine, but basically they go from mailbox to trash can. Again a waste of money.
Your GOTV operation is pathetic and looks more like it was built by a Democrat expressly to be a “good guy” to spur the competition [hack, cough, snicker] If you think your “efforts are effective” you are not only clueless you are hopelessly stupid.
BTW your computer program was designed by Liberal Silicone Valley Computer types, to fail. You got suckered in that, too, because you won’t hire guys like me, with 30 years of IT experience, to run your computer operations and database/application efforts. Again, you are clueless, and hopelessly stupid because you don’t know and you won’t reach out to new blood to help fix the problems.
You pick morons like Karl Rove… who have “connections”, burn through huge amounts of money on fancy cars, planes, nice houses… swanky hotels… er um entertainment.. and other amenities that such people demand.
Oh… do you want to find a place to start? Ok.. here’s some suggestions:
Get a real nuts and bolts IT operation going. Hire real Conservatives who know the territory, know the applications, know the web… Don’t go with anyone who has anything to do with a Democrat.
Get a real PR operation moving. There are several contributors out in the Blogosphere who are adept at marketing ideas, doing battle with demons, and answering lies. The RNC should have a perpetually operated “War Room” dedicated to getting the word out on the facts; educating the public; and promoting the brand. You need to apply the principles of Marketing to the BRAND, and work studiously to maintain that BRAND.
Get a real ground game working again. Quit begging for money from everyone. Quit making money the gateway key to organization access and prestige. The Democrats learned long ago that most people don’t have $1500 to pay for a rubber chicken dinner and an absent minded handshake from a poll. Reward volunteers for the act of volunteering! Their time is MONEY, and it is multiplied money, not dead cash.
Yes money is important. But be more imaginative about raising it. Give something back for it… No! I don’t mean a quid pro quo! People go to picnics, attend rallies, buy food, donate spare change… You need state by state engagement and support teams that go to county committees, help set up events and meetings, stage meet and greets in open public areas… hold campaign rallies with music and activities…
People don’t give if they think that it ends up in Karl Rove’s first class airline seat, his skybox at the local sports venue, or his chartered fishing yacht hitting up whale donors for mega bucks.
Now… as to Rove. He’s a weasel. I’d call him a ferret, but ferrets can actually be kind of quirky and cute… Rove’s a weasel, and he only has the formula for causing Conservatives to lose elections. It’s what the Democrats pay him for! [hey... no direct or indirect proof.. just being sarcastic... term of art... hack cough...chortle] ok ok… we’ll go with RINOs pay him for… there we do know that they provide him with a rather extravagant living, don’t we?
r/TMF