President Bush’s bold second-term agenda — which promised to usher in an era of conservatism — is so dead that it is questionable if conservatives can even usher in midterm victories. That’s why Karl Rove will now focus on the less glorifying but all-important task of winning elections.
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne predicts that “Rove’s recipe this year, as in 2004, is likely to include a heavy dollop of attacks on the Democrats. Hold on for the new Swift Boaters, coming soon to your swing state. It’s not the politics dreams are made of, but it often works.”
Posted by Melissa Cooley
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in.Contact us
Follow us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- Regular on Let immigrants run
- Regular on Too many exemptions
- Monkeyhawk on Let immigrants run
- Regular on Let immigrants run
- Politico on Too many exemptions
- XXX on Open thread 11/23
- XXX on Let immigrants run
- BlueJay on Let immigrants run
- Monkeyhawk on Let immigrants run
- Chrisfrommactown on Let immigrants run
48 Comments
It might work but I hope not! When you can not stand on the issues you stand on someone’s Lesbian daughter or their passed drug use. To me the swift boats jackasses were the worst. First they attack John Mc Cain then attack John Kerry. All in support of G.W. Bush, someone that could not even cut muster in the war.
I do not always agree with either Kerry or Mc Cain. But to attack their service to this country as a reason to vote against them is as low as one could go. Even a hero can pee his pants under fire. I have known some heroes..G.W. is not one of them!
A curse on those that can go that low. Ok, a curse on Rowe.
Karl Rove, in his swing-vote getting trips, would be wise to heed the sage words of the mighty Friedemann: “Don’t get too close to a tree.”
Dirty rotten cheaters! I’m tellin’ Mom!!
Please don’t tell.
It wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t trying to convince people that they are the party of integrity.
Thanks BlowJob! Now get that stain off your shirt!
Hey George, eat me.See, I can play 3rd grade games, too!
We know that Blow – you show it all the time! But yours are more in the line of kindergarten!
Looking at Karl is looking at America’s third political party, or a least its engineer. The malignant cancer of American politics.
The requirement to joint this party is a complete unwavering devotion to Zionist-Jew Israel, not the good Jews, but only the Zionists.
Bush is just a stooge, kept energized by a constant barrage of “end-days religion.”
Zionist Israel maintains power by promoting its self-inflicted victim status and drawing on all the sympathy, using every trick in the book to get it. Immoral conduct with criminal behavior which has no limits or compassion is the standard.
Brutality is the order of the day. For some psychopaths, that creates a calling….a home to operate freely.
America is under siege and the threat of a takeover from Zionist Israel, as the Zionist have infiltrated both the White House, Pentagon, and the congress and syphon money freely from the US Treasury.
As with most malignant cancers, Zionism will devour its host and itself in the process. More Americans have come to realize its presence and that is the first step to effecting a cure.
The Founding Fathers understood we would eventually come under attack and gave us the tools with which to defend ourselves.
In a martial arts sort of way, Karl Rove is a master at turning an opposing candidate’s strengths into weaknesses. Kerry & McCain’s military service are the best examples. McCain’s adoption of a child of color was turned against him. A decent juvenile court judge in Alabama was accused of being a pedophile in one of Rove’s whisper campaign. The real list is probably endless.
Rove is good at finding memes that stick to candidates. I wonder if that is accomplished by focus-groups or if he just has an intuitive sense about the best dirt to pile on someone?
All democrats in tight federal races would be well-advised to consider their strengths and how that could be turned against them and possible ways to combat that kind of attack. Kerry was caught flat-footed by the Swift Boat ads. Their group did not think that people would pay any attention to the B.S. – Think again and do not underestimate the low brow nature of the political audiences – witness the brilliant posts above. QED
On another thread David Broder laments that the country is becomming ungovernable. I wonder how much of that is due to the mud-slinging of Bush/Rove.
Rove’s whisper campaign.
More from the party of integrity?
If we cant make our case based on facts, lets whisper that someone is a n***** loving, church hating, welfare funding, draft dodging, wetback supporting, antibusiness, brokeback athiest pastafarian.
Hey, it has always worked in the past, right? We get the officials we elect.
Had enough? NO INCUMBENTS!!!!!!!!
If karl didnt have anyone to hate, if he could not construct a straw man scapegoat to be blamed for all of the problems in american, could he still run an effective campaign?
Is it a most effective strategy that he repeats because it works… or is he a one trick pony and the hate and defamation game his only move?
I cant wait for him to continue doing the same things harder and faster instead of doing something different.
Because you know he will.
The only variable in this equation is whether or not the voters will fall for it… AGAIN!!!!!!!!!
NO INCUMBENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Interesting that the David Broder thread was posted at the same time as this one. The Tom Tommorrow cartoon come to life!
http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=18206
Rage,Thanks for the link. That was too funny but all too true.
Great cartoon – and all so true.
Not that I really care, but am slightly curious to wonder where this “attack dog for hire Rove” came from. What is his background, does anyone know?
Seems a shame when the candidate you support doesn’t have anything to brag about so you must attack the opposition–and facts be damned.
Sad state of affairs…time to agree with KFG..don’t re-elect anyone!
Clarification…
the ‘you’ I spoke of was referring to attack animals like Rove…not making disparaging remarks about anyone else…
Not sure where he came from but he has been intimately involved in GOP politics for decades.
I am ashamed to say he came from AUSTIN. He has hacked his way through Austin and Texas and is now gleefully slashing and burning his way through the rest of the nation.
There for a while I thought bin Laden would be found about a month before election but now I think for lack of a boogy man, they will half hardily look for him. Right now he is their boogy man of choice and they will tell us Bushytails buddies are the only ones that can protect us from him.
KFG:”I am ashamed to say he came from AUSTIN. He has hacked his way through Austin and Texas and is now gleefully slashing and burning his way through the rest of the nation.”
Actually KFG (I am assume you’re talking about Rove)the fat Norwegian toad comes from UTAH.
When Karl was about age 10 he was beat up by a Catholic girl from down the street when she saw that he had a Goldwater button. I think that trauma left an indelible mark on him. I am going to skip my usual unkind remarks as to why Karl’s mom killed herself – even that evil slob doesn’t deserve such vitriol.
Ol Binnie always seems to pop up when Bush is in trouble and needs his support. Or, is it just that Bush is always in trouble? Starting to think Bush has a hot line connected to Binnie, maybe NSA will tap them.
Smear tactics only work when the people making them seem trustworthy.
But trustworthness is exactly BushCo’s problem.
I think the new slogan for the 2006 Campaign against Democrats will be the Culture of Treason, while Democrats will use the Culture of Corruption against Republicans.
Joe,You’re probably right – these will be the broad themes. Do you think the war opponents as traitors will work one more time? I am thinking it won’t, and if that is the case, what will Rove’s plan become then.
Sad to say, negative and attack adds work. This campaign will be the dirtiest in history, but that’s the story on each campaign anymore. They just keep getting worse.
Expect a hearty dose of mud-slinging seasoned with elevated terror alerts and maybe even a well-timed video from Osama.
Maybe we can even look forward to nuking Iran. Nothing like an excellent war to rally the voters around the president and his party.
That is why we need premptive strikes – ads in every state that is in play about how unsubstantiated the republican attack machine ads have been, how they will do it no matter what and it is only a political ploy.
Allie, that’ll only work until the republicans come up with something juicy. Look for accusations of homosexuality, child molestation, and planted evidence, all hallmarks of the Rove Machine.
These people will stop at nothing.
Don’t forget the fear factor…God knows the terrorists will destroy us all unless the tough, ass kicking, no compromise Republicans are in charge!
Think we’ll see another election eve message from bin Laden? Almost wonder if he’s on the payroll {adjusts tinfoil hat}.
A good book on Rove:
_Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential_ by James Moore & Wayne Slater (the authors first knew Rove from his Texas days)
Rove’s alcoholic father abandoned he and his mother when he was a child. Ubber-conservatives of the Utah ilk took him under their wings and served as surrogate fathers to him. His mother killed herself when Rove was out of the home, I believe.
Rove’s mentor was Lee Atwater Ubber-conservative political operative (who did work for Nixon). Rove did operative work for G HW Bush but got fired for improprieties that are not completely clear, but involved leaking info to guess who? Bob Novack.
He is considered very smart has a ton of electorial facts down to county level placed in his memory. He went to different colleges, but was never able to graduate. I have always thought that if he had been able to graduate from college, the U.S. might be a different place today.
X-The more we force them to outrageous claims the more unrealistic it becomes.
unbelievable
It’s a well-known fact that during election campaigns, the Republicans attack the person, not the policy. It seems to have been this way for nearly forever.
The sad thing is, it works.
Think back to 2004. What Kerry policies did Bush attack? Anybody? The problem with the Democrats of late has been that they want to play nice. In doing so, they’ve only made themselves look weak and ineffectual. Kerry was put on the defensive immediately with the Swifties and never recovered. Smart move by Rove.
I have to laugh when I think about the Republicans jabs at Clinton because he didn’t serve, yet Kerry did and GW hardly did, but you would’ve thought GW was a war hero. Uh huh.
“All in support of G.W. Bush, someone that could not even cut muster in the war.”
Yeah, writerdog, but he certainly could cut and run.
DemoRATS will do absolutely nothing to stem the tide of illegal immigration. As always, they get an “F” in my book.
And bush and the republican congress are stemming that tide so well?
But of course, let’s just keep doing the same things harder and faster. It is working SO well for us.
At least some Republicans address the issue with sanity which is much more than I can say for your Billary and Ted Kennedy!!!
CruX – if your Repukes address these issues with sanity then why haven’t they? After all, Shrubbie and the rest of his bunch are in total control.
… and the last I checked, Ted Kennedy, mccain and shrub were all promoting the SAME solution.
Cr X
“At least some Republicans address the issue with sanity –”
Was it sanity to go to war in Iraq?
Was it sanity to tap American’s personal wires?
Was it sanity to allow big business to hire illegals and not do anything about it?Halliburton all those NO BID contracts?
Was it sanity to NOT protect our borders?
Was it sanity to let the big energy companies write energy policies?
Was it sanity to say the illegals are ONLY taking jobs American workers don’t want?
This could go on and on but I will spare you.
Don’t spare CrusaderX Guy. But also don’t waste your time. CrusaderX is a nut.
I’m late to this thread.
I want to suggest something that has not yet been mentioned.
Prepare for attacks?
They are already going on!
Hillary was the percieved next nominee even before Kerry “lost”.The talk radio lie machine began attacks on her the day after bush “won” They made her “our” candidate and started to take her apart. And she hasn’t even announced!
Pretty good attack strategy. “This is their candidate. Look how bad she is”
Let them attack. That’s what they do. Let’s make them also defend.Their position is not defensible.
GFUN,
Please stick to the immigration issue, because that is what I meant when I said “this issue.” I do not agree with the Iraq war, I did not agree with it in 2003 and I still don’t today. However, concerning illegal immigration and employers hiring them, I don’t remember the Democratic Party doing or even criticizing illegal immigration for the past 30 or so years. Like I said before, both parties get an F on this issue. Rhetoric from the cultural conservative republicans however, seem to be the ones who want ACTION the most. Therefore I say that repubs get a little bit better than the dems on the immigration issue. Instead of an F, I’d give the repubs an F+. =)
Leave it to a self-confessed conservative to rely on rhetoric for facts.
What nonsense, but it’s a perfect example of Rove’s Goebbels-like strategy to use lies to dumb down an already stupid American electorate.
People like X are just waiting at the trough to gobble up Rove’s next series of lies.
We need to require at least an 80 IQ test score to vote – that would keep dozens of Bushbots away from the polls.
It seems the personal attacks by the repubs are starting in kansas too.
I mean, PLEASE. Two republican senators meet behind closed doors with a supreme court justice for the intended purpose of improperly discussing a case before the court….
And it is justice don allegrucci who is at fault because his wife works for the kdp?
It just doesnt get more bizarre or more personal than that!!!!!
Kansas…. as crazy as you think!!
It’d be nice if Fitzgerald neutralized Rove, which I think may happen.
Acting for a moment in my capacity as a mouthpiece for Digby, he makes the interesting point that Rove is scheduled to give a statement after testifying today.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/
Dare we say the ‘R’ word? And why else might have Tony Snow started on his new job today?
Ok I’m on the edge of my seat now C F. Troop reductions in Iraq within the next few weeks are being talked about today too. That and the Snow thing?
Can you say “Look…..over THERE!”