Karl Rove’s New Book Urges Republicans to Channel William McKinley

[Valin]

National Review:

Eliana Johnson

July 16, 2015

 

Karl Rove, the Svengali behind the Republican party’s last two presidential victories, is coming out with a new, if unconventional, book of advice for today’s strategists and candidates. The message: Channel President William McKinley.

 

Rove’s book, The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters, will be published by Simon & Schuster in November, a year before the 2016 presidential election. It offers a fresh look at McKinley, whose election to the White House marked the official end of the Civil War era and the beginning of nearly four decades of Republican rule in Washington. The book deal was brokered by Robert Barnett, who also represented Rove in the negotiations for the publication of his bestselling 2010 memoir, Courage and Consequence.

 

The new book is a formalization of the gospel Rove’s been preaching to fellow conservatives since his early days working on George W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 1999. That year, the Washington Post chronicled the “McKinley Mania” Rove had unleashed, noting that the “party of Lincoln and Reagan has gone dizzy over William McKinley.”

 

Rove, the paper said, first discovered McKinley during a class at the University of Texas. He was mesmerized by the story of a Midwestern governor who used his political skills to turn a squabbling and disunited Republican party into a political force that embraced immigrants and grappled with the issues posed by rapid industrialization. Thanks to Rove’s proselytizing, Haley Barbour, then chairman of the Republican National Committee, began to view Bush through the prism of McKinley, becoming convinced that the 2000 election would be the gateway to a generation of Republican dominance.

 

That, of course, didn’t come to pass. But Rove argues in his book that today’s political environment resembles that of 1896, characterized, according to a press release from his publisher, by “a rapidly changing electorate affected by a growing immigrant population, an uncertain economy disrupted by new technologies, growing income inequality, and contentious issues the two parties could not resolve.”

 

(Snip)

 

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From The Comments

 

12345mk

Rove and all the rest of these unprincipled hacks are so caught up with winning for the sake of winning and unity for the sake of unification that they forget what it takes to even win or unify.

 

You never hear the Establishment talk about the greatness of the country, the importance of the founders, the necessity of constitutional governance - besides last minute throw away lines. Instead, you hear them counting electoral numbers, and "this hispanic candidate can win hispanics" and "that woman can win the female vote" and other such highly cynical, nasty, uninspiring things.

 

Conservative voters can unify around conservatism. This isn't difficult, Mr. Rove. Instead of trying to find someone in the past who was successful at fooling all the voters, there's only two presidents you need to know about.

 

Calvin Coolidge.

Ronald Reagan.

 

And with this, I mean the real Ronald Reagan who rightfully called out the Establishment as "traitors", not the new Reagan that the Establishment has manufactured over the last few decades.(The new Reagan is practically indistinguishable from Susan Collins)

 

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Ah Vox Populi!

 

[SrWoodchuck]

 

Karl Rove, the Svengali behind the Republican party’s last two presidential victories...

 

 

Let's see..."Karl Rove, the Svengali"....of what?

 

That plainly defines an incongruity.

 

Although, I see why he appeals to you, @Valin.

 

The thrust of the post is that you have to go back....to move forward...to bring back....what was forwarded by Oblunder & ilk.

 

Rove should just go back....and stay there.

 

He's the Pied Piper of "RINO-DOM."

 

Worse than Obama....who let's you know he's going to cut your throat.

 

At least you see him coming with the knife.

 

Rove's the white-charting, idiot architect of "Vote a Republican-Elect a Democrat."

 

[Valin]

 

Karl Rove, the Svengali behind the Republican party’s last two presidential victories...

 

The thrust of the post is that you have to go back....to move forward...

 

It's called learning from history.

[righteousmomma]

If I might interject here - I will confess that Karl Rove has perplexed me. I always have thought him to be brilliant at what he does and always liked him against the constant onslaught of verbal abuse from "them"/the other side. He is a loyal Bush supporters. No doubt about that. He knows them. He loves them. So does Dana Perino. So do all who know them personally.

 

Just not sure that:

"He's the Pied Piper of "RINO-DOM."

 

and I certainly do not think he is :

 

"Worse than Obama....who let's you know he's going to cut your throat.

 

At least you see him coming with the knife."

[SrWoodchuck]

 

 

Karl Rove, the Svengali behind the Republican party’s last two presidential victories...

 

The thrust of the post is that you have to go back....to move forward...

 

It's called learning from history.

 

 

I'll address @Valin first:

 

If we're learning from history.....then Rove & his crap-tactics don't work....as he's 0 for 2, in pResidential races ....and a few more losses in Mid-terms. He has done his level best to over-ride & destroy GOP Tea Party candidates that.....but for his shenanigans...might have filled spots that...instead, went to Democrats. He's the old guard & his time has passed...his message is stagnation & remaining left of center to entice Independents & Republicans that want to move away from Dems that are teetering on the farthest edge of the left. Eight years has proven how bankrupt Progressive ideology has been...and the same can be said for a man who encourages moving to the center....when the center is becoming 2 clicks away from Stalin. He is Crony Capitalist in the same way as Obama & his merry leftists. He represents no change for most Americans except for changing a capitalized consonant, from "L"...to "R."

 

If Rove is followed...your "learning from history" will become....."doom repeated."

 

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Sweet @righteousmomma

 

2010 Delaware Senate Race: Rove instrumental in GOP defunding of Christine O'Donnell after she beat GOP front-runner, Mike Castle....and Dem Chris Coons won. Rove possibly helped engineer her fake IRS levy & audit.

2014 Kentucky Senate Race: According to the New York Times, Crossroads “appears to be testing” its “new approach” in Kentucky. The Conservative Victory Project, the group formed to take on conservative candidates, has stayed out of Kentucky’s Senate primary between Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)52% and Tea Party challenger Matt Bevin. Instead, a group called “Kentuckians for Strong Leadership” is curiously backing McConnell while getting most of its cash from Crossroads donors. It is “legally separate from Crossroads;” but Stephen Law, the president of Crossroads, sits on its board, and the two groups share a treasurer. {Crossroads and its affiliated groups spent nearly $450 million during the 2012 election cycle with no wins to show for it.}

 

Breitbart on Karl Rove/Crossroads:

 

The battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party has begun. On one side is the Tea Party. On the other side stand Karl Rove and his establishment team, posing as tacticians while quietly undermining conservatism.

 

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.

 

Rush Limbaugh talking about Rove/Crossroads/Establishment Republicans:

 

RUSH: Karl Rove and his PAC. What is it, American Crossroads? Is that the name of his PAC? There was a New York Times story a couple of days ago that basically said they are gonna end up choosing Republican primary candidates so that they're not "Tea Partied." The Republican establishment has had it with nominees like Sharron Angle, Christine O'Donnell, Todd Akin, and Richard Mourdock. They say (summarized), "No more! And if we have to, we're gonna run Republican money against Tea Party candidates to keep the Tea Party outta here," 'cause the elites say the Tea Party is destroying the Republican Party.

 

RUSH: Now, to "fair and balanced," ladies and gentlemen: The establishment Republicans, the inside-the-Beltway establishment types... Remember, these are the people who supported Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio. These are the brains. These are the guys who are gonna protect the Republican Party from you. They also opposed Rand Paul. Remember, they supported Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey and on and on. There are countless examples. The bottom line is, they don't have any better record at picking winners than the, quote, unquote, "amateur" Tea Party types do. And even when they pick winners, what do we end up winning? We get squishy Republican moderates....

 

Brent Bozell/Politico:

 

Karl Rove recently tried to advise Republicans on how the party can more effectively take back the Senate in November. He made two main suggestions.

 

One was that Republican candidates must “make the case for electing someone new who will be a check and balance in the Senate on Mr. Obama and his agenda, rather than returning a Democratic loyalist who toes his line.”

 

Rove’s second suggestion was that the party should “offer a positive, optimistic conservative agenda to make independents who disapprove of Mr. Obama comfortable voting Republican.”

Rove is right on both counts, especially about offering a positive and optimistic conservative agenda.

But there’s one big problem. This advice is coming from Karl Rove.

Rove has never cared about conservatism and has spent his entire career opposing any Republican who might be successful in promoting or implementing a conservative agenda.

Rove belongs to the same tradition of moderates who fought Barry Goldwater in 1964, who pushed back against Ronald Reagan in 1976 and did everything they could to stop Reagan again in 1980. They said Reagan would be a disaster for the party and even the country.

Rove and his ilk have opposed every significant conservative leader who has ever dared to challenge liberal or moderate Republican orthodoxy. A history lesson: Moderates wanted Gerald Ford and then George H.W. Bush over Ronald Reagan in 1976 and 1980. Similarly, Karl Rove and his friends wanted Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey in 2010. They wanted Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio in 2010. They wanted David Dewhurst over Ted Cruz in 2012.

 

Karl Rove kneecapped tea party candidates in 2010. He called Rick Perry’s policy prescriptions, many which have had great success in Texas, “toxic.” Rove said Sarah Palin lacked “gravitas.” He has said Rand Paul “causes GOP squeamishness.”

And what does he think about conservatives in general? He’s called us the Republican Party’s “nutty fringe.” This is the same man Media Matters has dubbed the Republican “voice of reason.”

When Rove founded his “Conservative Victory Project” last year, conservatives everywhere laughed. We knew this was a man who had spent his whole life making sure conservative ideas never saw the light of day.

Rove basically admitted as much, when he said his reason for forming this group was to “protect” the GOP from challenges from “far-right” conservatives and tea party enthusiasts.

In other words, Rove wanted to continue, true to form, to ensure that conservatives would have no influence on the Republican Party.

Tea Party News Network, on the US Chamber of Commerce & Rove:

 

Joining in the attack on every day Americans in an attempt to squelch their involvement and influence in favor of elitist establishment Republicans is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who is apparently more interested in crony capitalism than free markets. According to Breitbart.com, the Chamber is frustrated with opposition to amnesty, which they wholeheartedly support.

 

Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donahue has already pledged to get involved in Republican primaries, and a Chamber of Commerce spokesperson, Scott Reed, denigrated conservatives by saying his organization’s mantra will be, “No fools on our ticket.” The Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to Congress earlier this year saying that a “failure to act” on amnesty is “not an option” and indicated one of the main reasons it decided to play in Republican primaries was because the group was frustrated by resistance to amnesty, which would lead to an influx of foreign workers that will lower the wages of working class Americans.

 

The Chamber supports plans to infuse a ton of cash in their war against conservatives and the tea party.

 

The Chamber of Commerce plans to spend at least $50 million to wage war against conservative and Tea Party candidates during the 2014 midterm elections while Rove’s American Crossroads is reloading as well. They hope that “a less restive Republican caucus” will pave the way for initiatives like immigration reform. The Chamber of Commerce has indicated it may also pressure incumbent Republicans in moderate districts who are not on board with amnesty to get their support.

 

Perhaps this coordinated attack on the Tea Party and conservatives by Boehner, Rove, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce offers an explanation as to why the GOP as a whole has been lame in their response to Barack Obama’s use of the IRS to target, intimidate and harass such groups in 2011 an 2012.

 

It will be interesting to see how the GOP expects to win any races while simultaneously attempting to destroy its energized base.

 

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The Conservative TreeHouse:

 

Team McDaniel Exposes The Decepticon – FEC Filings Reveal Karl Rove As A Liar – American Crossroads DID Contribute To Thad Cochran In The Mississippi Run off….http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2014/07/16/team-mcdaniel-exposes-the-decepticon-fec-filings-reveal-karl-rove-a-liar-american-crossroads-did-contribute-to-thad-cochran-in-the-mississippi-run-off/

 

 

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Rove supports Amnesty & Obamacare.

 

[Valin]

SrWoodchuck

 

He is Crony Capitalist in the same way as Obama & his merry leftists.? Really?

Is Karl Rove right all the time? NO. Is The The love child of Lady Bird Johnson & Henry Wallace (which is what you're saying) NO. Has often opposed the TEA Party? ( ) Yes. That doesn't make him the anti christ? NO it makes him a political operative. Welcome to Politics.

 

Right Hand To God...This 100%er attitude on so many peoples part just drives me nuts!

[SrWoodchuck]

SrWoodchuck

 

He is Crony Capitalist in the same way as Obama & his merry leftists.? Really?

Is Karl Rove right all the time? NO. Is The The love child of Lady Bird Johnson & Henry Wallace (which is what you're saying) NO. Has often opposed the TEA Party? ( ) Yes. That doesn't make him the anti christ? NO it makes him a political operative. Welcome to Politics.

 

Right Hand To God...This 100%er attitude on so many peoples part just drives me nuts!

 

@Valin

 

If his candidates are successfully elected (finally) they will disburse taxpayer funds exactly as Progressives have done....to their supporters. Rovian tactic & thought, ruined the 2 years of 43's term...by profligate spending & a do-nothing Republican majority. Good gosh, man....you're as politically blind as my preteen grandchildren....but they have a good excuse....they're young & uninvolved. You've seen what Rove & his white-board theatrics have done & it's....let a Republican Congress go out of control, create a debt bomb, get Obama elected (twice-dammit!) and ruin Tea Party campaigns that resulted in having Democrats elected.

 

In essence....he's done the worst political things a Conservative strategist could do...destroy fellow conservatives campaigns (that weren't as moderate as he liked) elect Democrats or Elitist Repubs & Crony Capitalists that become Democrats after being elected, subvert the will of the electorate & willingly participate in the redistribution of the wealth of America....both willfully & by his inattention.

 

Sheeeesh, man! We tried it your way & his way & we're still in the crapper because of it....so...more of the same?

 

Does Karl Rove actually have to help Killary win a 3rd Obama term, to prove he's still got the touch?

[righteousmomma]

Well, if Rush says it, I believe it.

(He has been mighty disappointed with many in the Repub. establishment and though he does not choose a primary favorite he has had good things to say about Walker (always), Rubio, Carson (thinks no finer man walks the earth and hates the Dems trying to destroy him like they have Clarence Thomas etc) and a couple others. )

 

A couple days ago a caller from Colorado was talking about the abortion video- you can read the whole thing here:

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2015/07/15/you_re_darn_right_i_wish_he_had_failed

Its worth the read.

 

but this little gem came out:

They (DEMS) want us to shut up about this stuff because they are vulnerable on it. So they come out and they warn us, "You know, you guys better drop this. Look at how it's hurting." And then our numskull moderates (Repub Estab/RINOS etc.) read this stuff in the New York Times and then they call me and say, "You better stop talking about the social issues, you're killing us, the social issues are killing the party."

"How do you know?"

"The New York Times says so."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes." So that's how this stuff builds.

CALLER: Yeah. Rush, an election is being served on a platter to the Republicans.

RUSH: It is. And I'm gonna tell you, Carly Fiorina, Scott Walker, Carly Fiorina, Scott Walker, Carly Fiorina, Scott Walker. And some others we could throw in the list, too. Anyway, Smokey, I'm glad you called.