Karl Rove Decides Popular Guy Leading All the Polls Can’t Possibly Win Election

Posted on | October 24, 2011 | 81 Comments

Just about the time Herman Cain pulls ahead in the Real Clear Politics average — and is leading by double digits in Iowa — the Architect goes on Fox News to denounce Cain as “not up to the task“:

Remember that Karl is the guy who engineered George Bush’s landslide victory, by a margin of hundreds of votes, over the formidable Al Gore.

Let’s face it: Rove is a spokesman for the Romney campaign. And right now, I’m watching Chris Stirewalt on Megyn Kelly’s show declare that Cain’s alleged downfall “creates an opening for Rick Perry.”

Fox News: “Fair. Balanced. Don’t Think the Black Guy Can Win.” IYKWIMAITYD.

We’ll be laughing at this when I become Ambassador to Vanuatu.

Category: Election 2012, Fox News, Herman Cain, Karl Rove

Comments

81 Responses to “Karl Rove Decides Popular Guy Leading All the Polls Can’t Possibly Win Election”

jwallin
October 24th, 2011 @ 2:27 pm

Don’t be too eager for that Vanuatu Ambassadorship. The rise in the oceans from GCC will make beach front property into reefs.

Plus the cost of living is very high. Unless you go native.

Yeah, haven’t we seen this movie before? Rove, Will, Krauthammer, et al yammering about how the candidate most popular with the hoi polloi is “unelectable” and/or losing and/or fading and/or too inexperienced?

I kinda like it that Cain’s not an iRobotic meme machine. Spitting out the lastest poll tested answers. I’m more interested in his being HONEST, FORTHRIGHT AND WILLING TO ADMIT MISTAKES.

That’s what is called INTEGRITY. Which is what is needed in DC. Not more bs artists and “it’s my turn” types.

To Karl Rove: STFU, STFD and contemplate your sins and that ridiculous “Compassionate Conservative” nonsense I assume you convinced Bush to babble.
Charles G Hill
October 24th, 2011 @ 2:28 pm

Rove should stick to what he does best: controlling the weather and posing as a Sooper Genius.
CalMark
October 24th, 2011 @ 2:35 pm

In summer, 1988, George Will disparaged Reagan as being near the top of the average Presidents, or snotty, condescending words to that effect. I was enraged, although it was my first lesson that the GOP elites think differently than real Americans.

Will should have his nose rubbed in that absurd statement. Too bad nobody has ever done it.

McCain, the faithless egomaniac who repeatedly damaged the GOP, never got punished with, “He can’t win.”

Frankly, this all stinks of Establishment panic. In the end, Rove & Co. are committing political suicide. Good.
The Wondering Jew
October 24th, 2011 @ 2:46 pm

None of your other Pro-Cain posts have really convinced me, but if Rove is trying to sabotage him, that’s the best sort of endorsement in my book.
Mark Goluskin
October 24th, 2011 @ 2:47 pm

Now I like Rove, but is he not the genius that did NOT anticipate the last minute hit-job of 2000? That George W. Bush was arrested on a DUI charge back in the 70s. That neat little weekend before the election hit NEARLY COST BUSH THE ELECTION! So really, I want to see VOTERS ACTUALLY VOTE in a caucus or primary and THEN we can sort this out. UGH!
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 2:54 pm

Mikhail Rove speaks again!
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:00 pm

When Rove suggests that Cain can’t win the general election, he doesn’t mean that Cain is incapable of beating Obama. Rove means that he and his pals will not allow Cain to be the GOP nominee. As in . . .

“I’m going to win the presidency for the GOP.”

“No, you may not!”

Or to put it another way, “no, we cannot possibly allow a possibly intractable genuine conservative to challenge our control of the party . . .”
Chakam
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:02 pm

@PGlenn:disqus

Great comment! I totally agree.

Cain is not the cookie-cutter GOP beltway Republican puppet that Rove approves of being the leader of the greatest Nation on the planet.
Randy G
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:06 pm

Barry has set a pretty low bar to be Pres. Rove needs to shut the pie hole and let the people judge for themselves. We did it his way in 08 and look what happened.
Mike Cornelison
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:07 pm

I don’t think this has anything to do with Rove’s preferences for the ideal candidate in the primary, I’m pretty sure all he cares about are the GOP contenders prospects in the general election. Does he know something I have yet to grasp?

Rove is a Republican, through and through. He doesn’t give a damn about the color of Cain’s skin. If Rove thought Cain could beat Obama, he’d be singing the man’s praises. Obviously, for some reason (or reasons) he thinks Cain would lose to Obama, so he’s doing his best to derail the Cain Train before the nomination.Rove is pretty damn smart, but I will continue supporting Cain all I can – http://goo.gl/2RFm0 – and let’s just hope the best man wins.
CalMark
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:08 pm

Rove obsessively sabotaged Christine O’Donnell. (Who, by the way, has endorsed Mitt Romney. I hope Christine understands that’s the death-knell for her conservative credibility.)

We may see a GOP split–initiated not by the Tea Party, but obsessive tyrant RINOs like Rove. Maybe then they’ll go to their true home, the Democrat Party.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:14 pm

What’s especially absurd is how Rove wants viewers to get the impression that he just happened to spontaneously grab a dry-erase board a few minutes before going on air, in the Fox newsroom, and jotted down a few impromptu notes on Cain. As if Rove didn’t schedule the slot as yet another premeditated opportunity to do a hit on Cain.

And, of course, the viewer is left with the impression that the list would have been much longer, but these were just a few examples off the top of Rove’s head, while he casually scribbled on a dry erase board.

And if anyone asks him about it, he’ll innocently reply: “Oh, I’m just getting a little forgetful these days . . . the list was just a helpful prop for old uncle Carl.” Because we all know that nowadays Rove is just a folksy, semi-retired analyst, who means no harm to anyone.
richard mcenroe
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:19 pm

Hey, Karl! How’d them 2006 and 2008 elections work out?

Nothing sadder than a former Sooper Genius…
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:20 pm

I didn’t bother watching the clip, but I did peek at what he had on his white board there. Those are the same sorts of criticisms about Cain that have been thrown around here in the comment section, and they are serious to varying degrees.

The “X is out to get Y” meme is just getting so old, no matter which way it’s being thrown right now. Frankly, it’s a big turn off. It’s not bad to pick a candidate and advocate for him, but emphasizing this sort of thing just sounds whiny.

I think a better approach would be to deal with the arguments, or at least dismiss them without getting all ad hominem. You just make me want to like Karl Rove with this sort of whining. Why are you trying to help Karl Rove?!
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:26 pm

I think you’re giving Rove too much credit. Yes, he’s renowned for being a top notch, small area (e.g., voting district or precinct-level) strategic numbers guy, but what kind of localized “hard” data would he have on Cain v. Obama more than 12-months before the general election?

Rove is not a freakin’ magic wizard, as much as he might wish to cultivate that image.

I commend your attempt to apply Occam’s Razor, but you still haven’t found the simplest explanation. I agree that it’s a simpler explanation that Rove supports Romney over Cain because he believes that Romney is the better candidate, rather than because Rove is an evil puppet master.

However, the simplest explanation is not that a special contigent of insiders (like Rove) have some secret information that proves Cain has no chance against Obama and are thus attacking Cain in the best interests of the GOP and America. The simplest explanation is that Rove, roughly speaking, “works” for Romney.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:28 pm

If she did endorse Romney that is sure to be the end of her.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:28 pm

The fact remains that Cain’s gaffes are not typical political gaffes, but evidence of cluelessness and making it up as one goes along.

1) It’s conceivable to trade all the detainees at Gitmo for one US soldier, says Cain.

2) Abortion is private decision; thus woman and their families should be free to choose to an activity that Cain would make criminal via constitutional amendment.

3) Cain is not a neo-conservative in foreign policy, primarily because he never heard or read the word before, and doesn’t know what it means.

These are lowlights; you know there’s more.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:34 pm

It’s getting way past facepalm/”WTF was I thinking?” time, Stacy. At some point you have to trot out the Bill Murray line from Ghostbusters: “OK … so … he’s a dog.”

I mean, when it gets so bad that Rove is just the messenger, it’s pretty fucking bad. Frankly, I am trying to figure out whether Cain is Jimmy McMillan with the complicated beard shaved off, or John McCain in blackface.
CalMark
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:38 pm

Cut & paste from the O’Donnell email I was shocked to receive over the weekend.

Voters are craving
strong leadership. Mitt has it. He’s one of the only front runners
with
both successful government executive experience and successful business
executive experience. This is a strong contrast to Pres. Obama.

And
the very thing that Gov. Romney was criticized for in 2008, I find
appealing heading into 2012. In the midst of such turmoil and
uncertainty,
it’s comforting that he’s strong, solid and stands as an unmovable Oak
tree in the middle of a raging storm. Viscerally, voters will respond
to that
as the Obama Administration falls more and more into chaos.

I
hope the fact that I stood up to the liberal establishment within my own
party gives me the bona fides among conservatives to say the following; I
find the tone and nastiness of some of the things circulating around
the
internet about Romney extremely offensive. His words and actions are
being twisted out of context and well, maybe I am not so objective here,
but I
think it is below the belt to be so blatantly deceptive about a
candidate’s positions. This is the other reason I contributed to Gov.
Romney. I
don’t think he is getting a fair shake from some within my own movement.
While we may not agree with 100% of his positions, he’s been a
champion against a liberal bastion and deserves our respect.

Looks like poor old Christine sold her soul for her political career. Stupid little twit.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:39 pm

Fair enough, but you don’t find Rove’s “I’m just an analyst” shtick a bit sleazy? Matt, you and I don’t work for, and/or actively support, Cain or any other campaign, so if we call out Rove for being a phony, that’s not really whining.

When is Rove going to go on air with a dry-erase board list of Romney’s countless weakenesses – you know, in the interest of rigorous, impartial analysis?

As much as we (TOM posters) appreciate RSM’s excellent work, RSM’s work is perhaps not as well-publicized and impactful as (I believe) it ought to be. So, sure, RSM could (and probably should) simply “deal[s] with the arguments . . . without getting all ad hominem,” but meanwhile Rove will be doing his best to ensure that the anti-Cain arguments get considerably more amplification than the rebuttals to those arguments.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:44 pm

Which candidate are the anarcho-capitalists favoring at the moment?
AngelaTC
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:47 pm

What political career would that be?
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:52 pm

Cain’s lack of political/ideological sophistication is a problem compared to whom, though?

Given Romney’s education, experience, and level of sophistication, what is his excuse for still seeing the world from a progressive corporatist perspective?

In sports, talent evaluators sometimes refer to a kid’s “upside potential.” Player-A entering a professional draft has less impressive credentials than Player-B; however, Player-A has much greater raw (potential, previously untapped) talent, whereas Player-B has maxed out his potential.

Romney has maxed-out his potential and he’s STILL a progressive. What does that tell you?
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 3:52 pm

I don’t know. Honestly, I haven’t been following Rove too much lately. A quick search, and I did turn up something from earlier this year:

Former White House adviser Karl Rove slammed potential presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Thursday, saying the Massachusetts Republican will have to admit he is “wrong” on health care.

That’s apparently about a WSJ column Rove wrote in January 2011. Looks like he’s backtracked on that. Who knows?

I’m more interested in what the white board says than who wrote it. And all RSM is doing is elevating the criticisms without actually fighting back against them. OK, it’s his blog, so I’ll take him at his word that he knows what he’s doing.

It just gets old…every primary season, all of the accusations are arguments based on who is supporting whom, etc., and I guess I’m just getting grumpy.
CalMark
October 24th, 2011 @ 4:04 pm

You can be as snarky as you like, but she WAS the GOP nominee for Senator twice. And she did beat Mike Castle.

As such, she had more success than a lot of statist RINOs. Alas, it looks as though she’s sold her soul to them.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 4:06 pm

PGlenn,

Among anarcho-capitalists who vote (I resemble neither remark), Ron Paul seems to be the perennial favorite.

Of course, in 2008, after Paul was eliminated, one of the foremost an-caps, Walter Block, endorsed me (for VP, on the Boston Tea Party ticket with Charles Jay). So you just never know about those guys.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 4:11 pm

“It’s conceivable to trade all the detainees at Gitmo for one US soldier, says Cain.”

I have to defend Cain on that one. That’s not what he said, nor does it seem to be what he meant. He said that he would be capable of making the decision on such a proposal, not that he would make any particular decision on it.
AngelaTC
October 24th, 2011 @ 4:22 pm

Welcome to my world, Stacy – where the media repeatedly tells the voters not to waste their votes on a guy who can’t win.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 4:31 pm

But if you’re not an anarcho-capitalist, what kind of anarchist are you? You’re not of the leftist variety, are you?
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 4:46 pm

That’s a very valid concern/criticism. I agree, we should focus on the arguments, absolutely, and you frequently make excellent contributions in debates concerning the arguments.

Okay, but then we have to extend the same courtesy to Cain:

1). If/when Cain has made gaffes, those gaffes do not necessarily represent or reflect his positions – i.e., Cain’s better “arguments.” If we’re going to focus on arguments, if Cain comes back and clarifies his position(s), then we must address those better refined arguments – not his previous gaffes – right? And can we count on the Rove-types to do that?

2). On the other hand, if Rove’s point is to suggest that Cain’s gaffes reflect his underlying cognitive or “structural” weaknesses, let’s hear THAT argument, explicitly stated. Innuendos and sly winks are not arguments, either.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 4:53 pm

Yes, I think we need to take into account (for any candidate) the correction / walk back of a gaffe. I’ve addressed a few of those here. For instance, I’m pretty satisfied that he’s pro-life, and the original kerfuffle was a result of poor phrasing.

Now, the poor phrasing itself can become an issue if it’s frequent. I worry that Cain is flirting with this. Either way, Rove gotta be Rove. I’m probably just overly sensitive. Should go kick the dog or something instead of RSM. 🙂
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 4:55 pm

Did you email back to ask what movement does she think she’s leading now? To be honest I didn’t think she was the smartest candidate in either race (primary or general) I hoped she vote however DeMint told her she should.
DaveO
October 24th, 2011 @ 5:00 pm

I don’t agree that Rove is a spokesman for Romney, as Rove supports whomever is the favored of the Establishment.

Rove is imprisoned by the perspective that one must work inside the system (whether GOP or Dem) in order to have validity, veracity, and votes. Hugh Hewitt had better ideas for turning the map red than Rove ever had. Rove has blinders on – he is functionally fixated with Party, not with Americans.

The movers and shakers of the GOP: those who own it and those who get paychecks from those who own it, favor Romney because he will, like most good businessfolk, govern at the margins. Margins are where the money is made, fortunes ensured; and the margins are equally populated by GOP, Dems and Progressives.
Daily scoreboard « Don Surber
October 24th, 2011 @ 5:02 pm

[…] 19. From the next Ambassador to Vanuatu: “Karl Rove Decides Popular Guy Leading All the Polls Can’t Possibly Win Election.” […]
Joe
October 24th, 2011 @ 5:17 pm

Hey Karl, I wish Fitzpatrick nailed you instead of Scooter.

And here is a big fuck you for that Medicare Prescription Drug plan idea of yours.
ThePaganTemple
October 24th, 2011 @ 5:19 pm

What Herman needs is an edgy, hip campaign song.
reg_rollins21
October 24th, 2011 @ 5:19 pm

These DC folks are all surfers trying to catch the right wave to ride to fat consulting contracts in the general and access for fat lobbyist contracts after that. It’s a joke, they should be mocked.
Monday Catch-up « Nice Deb
October 24th, 2011 @ 5:26 pm

[…] Ya gotta love RS McCain – when he goes in for someone – he goes in 100%: Karl Rove Decides Popular Guy Leading All the Polls Can’t Possibly Win Election: Remember that Karl is the guy who engineered George Bush’s landslide victory, by a margin of […]
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 5:32 pm

Nothing wrong with grumpy, better than being sneezy.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 5:42 pm

That’s still a problem saying he’d be capable of making that decision with no caveats invited criticism whether unfairly or not. The notion of trading Gitmo detainees for hostages is simply unthinkable, his response at least seemed to imply that it was thinkable.
ThePaganTemple
October 24th, 2011 @ 5:46 pm

I wonder if this is what Herman means by a different kind of campaign.
Christy Waters
October 24th, 2011 @ 6:32 pm

Karl Rove is the same guy who put all his muscle behind Johnny Isakson when he ran against Herman Cain in the 2004 senate race. I remember that election. I was one of the hillbilly riff raff that Rove despises so much, who voted for Cain. If Karl Rove can’t stand the idea of Herman Cain being a US senator, then he damn sure can’t allow him to be elected POTUS.

Mr. Rove would do well not to overplay his hand, however. One of the reasons that Herman Cain is so popular, is that we hillbilly riff raff don’t like to be told by the establishment who our nominee will be. If he continues his animosity toward Cain, he may find a massive push back in support of Mr. Cain, which would suit me just fine.
CalMark
October 24th, 2011 @ 7:10 pm

I didn’t bother writing back. I’ve just written her off mentally. You’re right; she would have been a useful DeMint ally. However, this sellout to Romney maybe shows Chinless Mitch might have stolen her away.

O’Donnell is proving to be a real twit. A conservative twit, but a twit nonetheless. My doubts started when Limbaugh and Levin did moneybombs for her, got her to about $3 million…and she didn’t run ads for almost 3 weeks, until that ridiculous “I’m not a witch” thing.
Finrod Felagund
October 24th, 2011 @ 7:20 pm

Has anyone seen any polling at all of the GOP race? The newest one in the RCP average is as of a week ago.
JeffS
October 24th, 2011 @ 7:38 pm

Karl who?
Quartermaster
October 24th, 2011 @ 7:44 pm

Yeah, Rove is a Republican through and through. That’s why he undermined CO’D. So Republican.

I’ll be glad when the GOP finally ignores that useless hack. His advice to Bush is what put us in the mess we are in with the Obummer.
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October 24th, 2011 @ 9:16 pm

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Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 9:25 pm

There are a number of leftist varieties of anarchist. I’m a market anarchist, also known as a left-libertarian or agorist. It’s easy to mix up left-libertarians and ancaps, as the differences are sometimes obscure.

The main difference is that ancaps conflate “capitalism” (a state-regulated, mixed industrial economy) with the free market, when they are not the same thing at all.

Um … here, this will make it easier if you’re that interested.
Zooropa
October 24th, 2011 @ 9:29 pm

Rove has been working behind the scenes for Romney ever since the RINOs failed to generate any interest in a Mitch Daniels candidacy and the trial balloons they floated for Jeb Bush were met with a resounding chorus of ‘no more Bushes’. Romney was then left as the default RINO candidate which is why Rove, Krauthammer, Will and the rest of the herd are steadily working to erode confidence in and support for any other candidates.

Face it – this is the way it will be until the primaries are over. These guys are going to protect their positions as the party poobahs even if it means losing the 2012 election.
Anonymous
October 24th, 2011 @ 9:31 pm

Adobe,

It’s only “unthinkable” to those who place less value on American lives than on retaining an unaccountable power to illegally detain anyone, from anywhere, for any reason or for no reason at all.

Reagan would have made such trades in a heartbeat. He might have covered it up a little, but if he’d had the opportunity to trade a Gitmo detainee for an American, there’d be skid marks on the concrete where they pulled the people out of the cells to get the deal done.