Rove, The Republican Establishment Jove, Is No Bill Buckley

Reporting from Council Bluffs Iowa, New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny informs us in this article that a new organization, an offshoot of  the American Crossroads super PAC (aka Crossroads GPS), co-founded and advised by Karl Rove, has been formed with Rove’s “inspiration.”

Called the Conservative Victory Project its purpose is 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 efforts to win control of the Senate.”  Further, that it has been formed “to impose a new sense of discipline on the party, particularly in primary races.”

Would be Republican Jove, Karl Rove, About To Throw Down On Those Pesky Conservatives

Hmmm, so the movement that brought us the 2010 interim election victories is now to be vilified, corralled, marginalized  for the 2014 interim elections in favor of all the get out the vote potential of milquetoast !?  And this guy Karl Rove is rated political genius? Now in fairness a story by the New York Times about Republicans should be treated with a healthy dose of salt to absorb the bile. But the article is complete with attributions, and by the responses from truly grassroots conservative organizations, is being taken as substantially accurate. More on those responses a little later.

The Zeleny article goes on to quote American Crossroads president Steven J. Law “There is a broad concern about having blown a significant number of races because the wrong candidates were selected,  . . . We don’t view ourselves as being in the incumbent protection business, but we want to pick the most conservative candidate who can win.”  Zeleny’s characterizes the effort as one to “ weed out candidates who are seen as too flawed to win general elections.”

Zeleny reports from Iowa because six term Iowa Republican Steve King is rumored to be interested in the Senate seat being vacated by Tom Harkin and according to him, King could be among the earliest targets of the Conservative Victory Project.  We think it more than a supposition from Zeleny and that the encouragement for an actuality from Iowa was instigated by Rove and company.

The full article refers to Law as promising “hard-edge campaign tactics,  . . . against candidates whom party leaders see as unelectable.”  While not directly attributed to Law, that would be consistent with what Rove and company have been known to do.  Witness his statements regarding several Tea Party endorsed candidates he denigrated AFTER their nomination. Now Zeleny directly quotes Law as saying  “It is a delicate and sensitive undertaking.”  Given Crossroads MO and the snide condescending quotes directly attributed to Law and Rove, well it seems a  little less than an authentic operating demeanor.

Law is further quoted as characterizing the group’s intent as to  “institutionalize the Buckley rule: Support the most conservative candidate who can win.”

First of all we find their endorsement of the so called Bill Buckley rule less than objective in that they  purport to be the diviner of what a candidates winability level is. Besides, their track record on the “win” part is not that good. And, they have an intent and  practice of making their comment self fulfilling with regard to the more conservative candidates by threatening “aggressive” spending on negatives in a primary and badmouthing them if they win. And this directed toward a fellow Republican, who may be advocating nothing more than what the Republican platform says.

The problem with the Buckley rule is the vagaries of politics, who says who can win, and the ratcheting down of that judgment in a hand wringing way, or one that seems to consistently satisfy only certain vested interests. Not that William F. Buckley would be such a practitioner, but anyone can invoke his name and claim fidelity to the concept.

One also has the feeling that Rove and company are  client serving (donor or candidate), opportunists, rather than devotees of an authentic operational concept. How many moderate incumbents will they go up against if attractive conservatives present themselves in a primary? We think they will always come down on the side of the moderate incumbent, justified by the unprovable assertion that “Joe Incumbent” is more electable.  And can they point to a collection of races where they used their bully pulpit (double entendre intended) to denigrate a moderate or RINO after a nomination process?  They do have a track record of  dumping on conservatives after their nomination.

We don’t suggest as Zeleney does, that by imposing the Buckley rule, the group could run afoul of Ronald Reagan’s “11th Commandment” to not speak ill of a fellow Republican. We predict it will run afoul because that is their track record.  They cannot presume to win with their tactics, they can only presume to damage the Tea Party candidate, denigrate the conservative core of the Party, and justifiably receive return fire damaging their own candidate’s prospects.

In referring to the New York Times account, Kyle Trygstad posting in Roll Call reports that “The Senate Conservatives Fund, founded by former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, issued a statement calling the project “another example of the Republican establishment’s hostility toward its conservative base.”

Trygstad’s analysis (and the NYT report) repeated the narrative/presumption that a hands-off approach in the 2012 cycle “resulted in nominees such as former Missouri Rep. Todd Akin, whose controversial comments about “legitimate rape” and pregnancy resulted in a top-tier pickup opportunity being wiped off the map.” 

We have dealt with the Akin race before , but that ~ Rovian ~ analysis remains the predominant narrative, including among some conservatives.  It is unfair in its treatment of the facts about pregnancy resulting in rape even if clumsily stated by two politicians who support the inalienable right to life and the solid ethical concept that you do not kill the child for the crime of the father. The implications of their attacks on Akin are a horrid attack on the children of rape and human dignity, and it represents a selective outrage considering that the Republican establishment picked candidates are just as prone to impolitic comments.

Rather than going after Claire McCaskill on her vulnerabilities, doubling down there, the establishment, practically led by Rove, became part of the perps doing Akin in.  I cannot help but believe that Rove’s  continued vituperation about Akin is because he is trying to keep focus on Akin’s flaws rather than his own flaws and inconsistencies, including his organization’s non-stellar performance. Akin is a whipping boy.

Indeed the The Roll Call report points out that   “establishment-backed candidates such as former Virginia Sen. George Allen and former Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg lost as well in what  was a bad year overall for the GOP.”  Our view is that more responsibility lies at the top of the ticket for not carrying weaker candidates than on isolated races in states collapsing Republican efforts nationwide.  Rove’s independent  “genius” did not pull Romney through.

Along this line Senate Conservatives Fund Executive Director Matt Hoskins is quoted by Roll Call regarding Rove’s efforts:  “This is a continuation of the establishment’s effort to avoid blame for their horrible performance in the 2012 elections,” . . . “They blew a ton of races up and down the ticket because they recruited moderate Republicans who didn’t stand for anything. Now they want to use this new PAC to trick donors into giving them more money so they can lose more races.”

In the time of writing this commentary many conservative sites have held forth about the appropriateness of Rove’s latest venture.  Craig Robinson, the editor of The Iowa Republican has an excellent piece titled  The Architect Becomes the Demolition Man.  Among the many good points is this one: In the past four years, there have been countless examples of conservatives rallying around their candidate when attacked by someone or something they perceive as being the Republican establishment.  If any one should realize this, it’s Rove himself.

Rush Limbaugh expressed similar sentiments on his radio program today. He made the extension that this is the sort of thing that spawns third parties.  Rush warned that the Republican Party could end up being the 10% Party.

We would add to the analysis and comments that part of the problem with Rove is that he and the barons he solicits money from are far removed from the pulse of the Party, the conservative core.  They have no appreciation for rank and file Republicans.

Robinson’s cohort Kevin Hall had some comments about the matter earlier in the week.  While he does not think Iowa Congressman Steve King should run for the Senate, he objects to Rove’s big-footed entry into the matter.  Defending King’s honor in his weekly wrap -up column posted Sunday, his succinctly expressed sentiment was: “Memo to Rove and Law: Back the F off.”  Hall also took the time to be as encouraging as possible for Rove’s energies: “Here’s a better idea for Rove and Co.: Go after liberal blowhards like Geraldo Rivera, who wants to run for the U.S. Senate”

Great invective is also available at Red State including this one from David Horowitz: The Snakes In The GOP Grass:

“Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that the power players at American Crossroads are financing a new group to help fund candidates in the primaries who oppose conservatives. In light of their smashing success electing candidates like Tommy Thompson, Rick Berg, Denny Rehberg, George Allen, Heather Wilson, and Linda Lingle, they will expand their roadshow into the primaries during the next election cycle in search of the next candidate who is indistinguishable from his/her Democrat opponent.”

” . . . Over the past few election cycles, a number of us have worked hard to find those few but strong voices in the wilderness.  We have successfully elected people like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, and a number of congressmen who are committed to fighting for the values of our Republic.  Yet, the old power players within the party will not go silently.  They obdurately seek to quell any effort to restore the Republican Party as an effective voice for the values of our Republic.”

It does seem a gauntlet has been dropped by one of the establishment gurus . . . and it has been picked up.  Rove isn’t pursuing practical politics, he is pursuing petulant politics.        R Mall

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