Karl Rove: Romney’s Attacks ‘Flailing,’ Long GOP Primary Hurts Obama
EmailKarl Rove thinks Mitt Romney probably should have begun attacks on Newt Gingrich much earlier in the presidential campaign, he told me on Good Morning America. But Rove is not convinced that a drawn out primary will hurt Republicans and he said a fight for their nomination could create a better nominee to face President Obama.
Rove said he is not very impressed with the attacks that Romney has launched so far. Today he described them as “flailing” so far.
“The rise of Gingrich in the polls has caused the Romney people to reconsider their campaign strategy. My suspicion is they’re all looking at themselves saying why didn’t we start this weeks ago?” Rove said this morning.
“Yesterday I think the attack was sort of flailing. lets see if the Romney campaign gets a little more focused,” he said.
Gingrich surged to the front of polls in the Republican presidential early this week and now Mitt Romney has launched a barrage of attacks against the former House Speaker, including the use of television ads pointing to Gingrich’s previous criticism of House Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to drastically retool Medicare. Surrogates for Romney have criticized Gingrich as “self-serving” and guilty of “irrational behavior”.
But at this point, one day before ABC’s Iowa debate, which will air Saturday at 9 p.m. on the TV network, and less than a month before the Iowa Caucus, Rove said it may be too late for Romney to effectively undercut Gingrich.
Watch my interview with Karl Rove:
“Remember we have 25 days until they start voting in Iowa and we probably have only two effective weeks of campaigning before we get into the Christmas holidays and its sort of hard during the period of December 22nd thru January first or second to really do things in a traditional way in a campaign when you got everybody worried about Christmas presents and holiday parties and family visiting,” he said.
Rove said Romney must hone the attacks if they are to ultimately be effective.
“You’ve done a better job frankly of summarizing their attack than (the Romney campaign) did yesterday. So that’s the first thing is that you have to distill the two thingst hey said yesterday into what you said,” said Rove, referring to a Jake Tapper’s GMA report on Romney’s attacks.
Gingrich’s strategy of staying above the fray and not responding to the attacks, according to Rove is the right one.
“He’s going to be on the receiving end of blows not only from Romney, but also from Paul and Bachmann and Santorum and Perry,” said Rove. “I thought yesterday it was a good opening response to say I’m going to stay above it and I’ve got one opponent, his name is Obama.”
“Whether (Gingrich) can sustain it, though, is going to depend on the chemistry of those debates, the kinds of questions and the kinds of answers that are offered. that’s what makes it so unpredictable,” said Rove.
Will a drawn-out Republican primary lead to a damaged candidate and a better chance for President Obama to win reelection? Rove said no. And for evidence he pointed to the drawn-out primary fight between then-Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton.
“I remember in 2008 saying to myself this long drawn-out contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is going leave the Democrats bled white and hurting,” he said. ” And it turned out to actually have helped them enormously; registration totals went way up in battleground states, they built large armies of volunteers, they crystallized the message, people took the candidates and concluded they were up to the job and they came barreling out of that contest as you recall, which took all the way ’til June, they came barreling out of that contest. I suspect the same thing is going to happen on the Republican side.”
Rove pointed to contentious Republican debates, which have been occuring since June, and which he said have coincided with President Obama’s slide in the polls like a daily tracking survey taken by Gallup, which asks voters if they support President Obama or a general Republican.
“Since early July, after the beginning of the debates in late June, Obama has been tied or behind or dead even with the republican virtually all of the time,” said Rove.
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Rove is mistaken. These debates and the extremely long primary season is just showing how completely out of touch with reality most of the Republican candidates are. Look who they favor now: an ethically challenged lobbyist with Stepford wife number three in tow, unable to make up his mind – he is for something until Obama is against it, then he flips. {Libya, Ryan budget to name two].
Posted by: pksk531 | December 9, 2011, 8:18 am 8:18 am
Obama…one and done
Posted by: wact1 | December 9, 2011, 8:39 am 8:39 am
Ahhh, Karl Rove, a.k.a. Darth Cheney Junior. The evil father of the ‘attack everything, and go as negative as possible’ campaign strategy. Personally responsible for a good portion of the partisanship dividing this nation today. A truly horrible person……………
Posted by: Searambler | December 9, 2011, 8:48 am 8:48 am
WACT1: “Obama…one and done”
Be careful what you wish for – there are worse things than Obama. If the Republicans succeed in destroying the middle class in favor of the investor class, that leaves most of us (and I’m betting you, too) on the outside looking in. On the other hand what you say does fit onto a bumper sticker, which satisfies the attention span of the average Republican voter.
Posted by: Steve From NH | December 9, 2011, 8:55 am 8:55 am
PKSK and Steve: Exactly! And you know I’m sick of all the Obama bashing…most of which are lies. He got rid of Osama…Libya turned out pretty well. The troops are coming home from Irag. The Auto Industry which he bailed out is back and doing well and repaid the loans. The banks on the other hand which were bailed out by BUSH are at it again. No president is perfect but I feel Pres. Obama is doing a good job with all the messes he has and a Congress of nitwits…He is standing up to them and told them they would not be going home for Christmas w/o straightening out the tax and unemployment extensions. And God help us all if someone like Gingrich gets in. This is all the GOP has to offer? And we complain about Pres. Obama?
Posted by: Barb | December 9, 2011, 9:59 am 9:59 am
Searambler: GOOD post! Just had to get on but I’m off in a little while. I see it is the same old nonsense. The GOP is finished. Anyone who would vote for any of these incompetents needs their heads examined. This is what they have to offer? Karl Rove???? Gingrich???? Trump??? Bauchman?????Cain???? It’s unreal…and they complain about this president? LOL LOL
Posted by: Barb | December 9, 2011, 10:02 am 10:02 am
Obama and the democratic attack dogs are just sitting back calculating when it’s the right time to attack. They’re gathering dirt as we speak. Problem with Obama is he only has a 5-6 year history to work with during which he only volunteered “present”. Not much to work with. Maybe the last three years of “same old corrupt crap in Washington” might stick.
Posted by: newcountryman | December 9, 2011, 10:11 am 10:11 am
Must disagree. I have talked to more people that say the more they hear the Republican candidates the more they will vote for Obama. Even those that think Obama has not done a good job are saying that the Republicans are so far out on the lunatic right-wing fringe that there is no way they could vote for any Republican candidate. My Independent friends are outright afraid of the Republican candidates and their allegiance to the Christian Taliban. Women and minorities are realizing that the shackles of oppression will be put around them once again by the party of the Confederacy. They are stuck in the 1850s.
Posted by: afmcalax | December 9, 2011, 10:27 am 10:27 am
Obama and the democratic attack dogs are just sitting back calculating when it’s the right time to attack. (They’re waiting to see which clown is left standing after the blood bath that will be the Republican primary). They’re gathering dirt as we speak. (One can only gather dirt if there is dirt to gather. And these guys are dirty. They make it easy). Problem with Obama is he only has a 5-6 year history to work with during which he only volunteered “present”. (LOL! Is this Rush? Don’t perpetuate the lies, ncm. You’re usually better than that. FYI, he had 11 years combined in the state and federal Senates). Not much to work with. Maybe the last three years of “same old corrupt crap in Washington” might stick. (Hard to do without concrete proof…)
Posted by: Searambler | December 9, 2011, 10:32 am 10:32 am
Nice article George. I think it would be better though, had you leveled some criticism against Rove and the Republican party for having moved so far right of center. By the way, Dolores Wilson and I missed you at Bethlehem House’s 25th anniversary celebration over the summer. The video you sent didn’t show well on the screen. Peace.
Posted by: Tom Berndt | December 9, 2011, 10:34 am 10:34 am
I just hope Obama can still win despite his horrible performance so far. And a shout-out to Searambler. Great posts again!!!! Thanks for defending Obama’s big spending and big government ideas, which are the only way to go at this point. And congrats on your new Hoveround. Best regards.
Posted by: LexingtonLady | December 9, 2011, 11:32 am 11:32 am
I don’t know if a long protracted GOP primary will impact Obama at all. I believe he will continue to do his thing. Though he does not have a target; and should refrain from campaigning against a candidate before that candidate is identified; he will raise lots of money but the media won’t get their share because Obama will have to wait so long to go full in.
A long protracted fight to determine GOP primary candidate surely must be hard on the republican voter to witness on candidate after the other being tarred and feathered by the media. But the elephant in the room is…will the mormons vote democrat once it is proven beyond a shadow of doubt that ain’t no way right winged evangelicals or southern Baptist will ever, ever, ever, ever vote for a mormon. That is the 164 million dollar question. Will the mormons defect?
Posted by: Dayspring7 | December 9, 2011, 11:35 am 11:35 am
Obama should be compelled to testify under oath about Solyndra and about Fast & Furious. Then it’s on to impeachment, after he lies about his involvement in both. But if not, he’ll be beaten like a cheap drum come next November. Believe me, the Republicans, and many millions of Independents (many of whom supported Obama last time) will be plenty enthusiastic to replace the empty windbag and crooked “community organizer” known as Obama.
Posted by: RiskyBusiness | December 9, 2011, 11:39 am 11:39 am
No, the President should not be compelled to testify. Solyndra was one of two companies out of 28 that went belly up. The other 26 are doing fine, such as ABC systems that is supplying Ford with lithium batteries and hiring lots of new employees. You win some and you lose some.
Is there political influence in decisions by the energy department to award contracts, of course there is, that’s why the lobbying profession is so lucrative.
Despite what people think, the President and cabinet members don’t really get involved in the day to day workings of each department. Solyndra is a political effort by the republicans to discredit this President. If this committee was serious, there are a lot more programs that need investigating, including most of the pork projects awarded by Congress.
Posted by: tmferretti | December 9, 2011, 11:58 am 11:58 am
Yes, TMFERRETTI, he should testify under oath…that is if he can take time away from his many vacations and various “sporting activities”. “Solyndra is a political effort by the republicans to discredit this President.” No, more to the point is that he “discredited” himself by costing the taxpayers more than 500 Million bucks for no bang at all, all because of his inflexible “ideology”, and against warnings from reputable people to the contrary. I also see that you are doing the cut-and-paste thing, like so many on the left who post here. I didn’t respond to it, but your post above appears on at least one other blog comment. Pathetic.
Posted by: RiskyBusiness | December 9, 2011, 12:06 pm 12:06 pm
Whatever happened to that now old joke called Transparency, that Obama promised us. Certainly he should have to testify under oath about these misguided and criminal activities. Can you imagine the wild outcry if it had been a Republican president involved in this expensive and deadly crap? It would be absolutely center-stage by now if it had been a Republican president, I can promise you. It’s just this kind of double-standard, hypocrisy, stonewalling, and lying that turn many people off from Obama, especially considering his many promises to conduct himself entirely the reverse.
Posted by: Maurice | December 9, 2011, 12:24 pm 12:24 pm
RISKEY BUSINESS
I cut and paste because every time I post I get a “you are posting to fast message” and I lose what I typed”, so I type my post up first so I don’t have to retype all over again. If that bothers you so be it.
Every company in that program had loan guarantees one way or the other, they are risky endeavors. The Energy Department people were half for it, half against, and so the secretary made a decision. It failed,
If we are really interested in political influence lets haul Cheney’s butt in front of a committee over Halliburton getting every contract in Afghanistan and Iraq without even a bid. I guarantee you we lost more than 500 million, try 2 or 3 billion..
Posted by: tmferretti | December 9, 2011, 1:07 pm 1:07 pm
Rove is delusional, much too confrontational as noted here by others. (I thought he liked Mitt.) Reportedly, Romney’s team did change their attack plan by three days. I am thrilled, really, with the personal comportment of both front runners.
There simply is no need to go negative. It does damage where none is called for. I suppose Gingrich’s dismantling will come at the hands of Paul, Perry, Bachman and Gingrich himself. Too little time at the top of the hill yet for those disinfectant sun rays to really soak in.
This will all correct it’s own darn self as Newt’s leadership style is brought back to memory for caucus attendees. It really amounts to the presidentiality. Newt only comes close.
Posted by: safari man | December 9, 2011, 2:00 pm 2:00 pm
I’m not going to touch a Republican with a 10 ft stick. Republicans are poison.
They might be able to rouse the bigots and some religious zealots telling other who they can marry but the Republican policies of lowering taxes and deregulating have unequivocally failed all but maybe 5% of Americans.
Sorry you old geezers, Obama in 2012.
Posted by: ApostasyUSA | December 10, 2011, 1:17 pm 1:17 pm
George,
Aren’t you embarrassed about asking whether or not a candidate is qualified to be President if he has been unfaithful? Really?…you obviously don’t think so given your time with Clinton who was a well known philanderer.
By the way, when is ABC news going to cover Fast and Furious? Oh, that’s right. You won’t since you are a lap dog for Obama.
Posted by: Carla | December 12, 2011, 7:09 pm 7:09 pm
RON PAUL 2012.
So what is worse a republican president or one that has taken more time to vacation with his family? Taking a 4 million dollar vacation when half of the country is barely getting by? Way to go!!! The country is still in debt, and taxes are going to continue to increase!!! RON PAUL 2012
Posted by: JESS | December 23, 2011, 1:11 pm 1:11 pm