# Here's to Karl Rove **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 8, 2012, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341 "2012-11-08T06:41:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/61 "2012-11-09T00:29:06Z")
Why yes. You might also have noticed our own **adaher** whining incessantly about negative ads as though they were invented by the Obama campaign for the first time this year. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/62 "2012-11-09T00:45:26Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Why yes. You might also have noticed our own **adaher** whining incessantly about negative ads as though they were invented by the Obama campaign for the first time this year. Where IS adaher? Really! He hasn’t been around here since before the election night results started coming in. It’s really pissing me off. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/63 "2012-11-09T00:45:34Z")
Good thing for Karl Rove that the modern conservative movement rewards complete failures. (See “Heckuva job, Brownie!”, Dick Morris, et al). He will still get paid millions for his political “genius” because he tells Republicans what they want to hear. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/64 "2012-11-09T01:05:34Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > What makes you think that that money didn’t go to pay people? What are you talking about? 😕 My post was about a scenario in which the _entire_ sum went directly to paying people. Was it the line you didn’t quote, about it not being spent that way? That was in reference to the spending being spread over a much longer period of time than a month. Maybe you misread it? > [@Enkel](#): > > I think each side spent about a billion dollars. That’s two billion dollars… with a ‘B’ billion. I commented on how the unemployment rate dropped at least in part because of the spending and someone on this board with a printing operation said they’d made more off the campaigns than in the last three years combined. I like to think of it as an arrogance tax that we the people have extracted from the 1%ers. Possibly so–I approximated the figure I used from a quick googling that showed the amount spent by the campaign and the single largest SuperPAC, then bumped it up to a round number. For purposes of napkin math about job creation, I figured it was close enough. I was also only addressing the Romney campaign, because that was the amusing scenario I was responding to–that Republican spending had buoyed the economy enough to cost them the race. It’s plausible that the campaign spent enough to create/sustain as many as 16,000 jobs for a year…which is nice, but not enough to sway national numbers much. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/65 "2012-11-09T01:32:09Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Where IS adaher? Really! He hasn’t been around here since before the election night results started coming in. It’s really pissing me off. Really? It’s actually making me rather happy. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/66 "2012-11-09T01:34:46Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > No wonder the little turd was so upset last night. “Little” ? > [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Karl looked like a guy who knew the fix was in, and couldn’t believe that the fix didn’t actually come in. Wow. That’s exactly what he looked like. > [@Marley23](#): > > [Jon Stewart was ecstatic over that clip.](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-november-7-2012/post-democalypse-2012---america-takes-a-shower---karl-rove-s-math) I strongly recommend last night’s Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow shows. Pure joy. > [@drewtwo99](#): > > That’s because in Idaho, the potatoes get a vote too… and we all know that they are about as “white bread” as produce gets. Just so you know: not quite all of us are Right Wing ignorant nutjobs. Idaho has a dirty little secret: one progressive/liberal University town, with an interesting name-- Moscow. (The name has nothing to do with Commies. It goes back to 1875, and was probably an homage to the postmaster’s hometown Moscow, Pennsylvania.) We are known throughout the Pacific Northwest as “The Berkeley Of Idaho.” . ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/67 "2012-11-09T03:35:53Z")
[Karl Rove may have just outdone himself](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/11/08/karl-rove-obama-succeeded-by-suppressing-the-vote/?tid=pm_politics_pop): > [@Washington Post](#): > > The president’s campaign “succeeded by suppressing the vote,” Rove told Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/68 "2012-11-09T04:20:32Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > It appears that Karl Rove is to be congratulated for lightening up right wing chumps. > > I guess that just proves the rich Pubbies need to keep their tax cuts, to make up for the cash Rove just flushed down the toilet for them. > > No wonder the little turd was so upset last night. If Rove’s donors feel that they’ve been cheated, they can always file complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Maybe somebody could ask Senator Warren to pull a few strings and get the investigation fast-tracked. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/69 "2012-11-09T04:36:41Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Just so you know: not quite all of us are Right Wing ignorant nutjobs. Idaho has a dirty little secret: one progressive/liberal University town, with an interesting name-- Moscow. (The name has nothing to do with Commies. It goes back to 1875, and was probably an homage to the postmaster’s hometown Moscow, Pennsylvania.) We are known throughout the Pacific Northwest as “The Berkeley Of Idaho.” > . I actually don’t think ill of Idaho at all. And, since reading the 538 article on Idaho, I do know about Moscow! 🙂 Now, California on the other hand, I have no use for. But I’m an Oregonian, so it’s borne into my blood to hate California. Idaho is our friendly, forgettable neighbor to the east 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/70 "2012-11-09T04:37:54Z")
> [@](#): > > …file complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau… It will be heard in New York Superior Court right after _Coyote v. Acme Corporation_. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/71 "2012-11-09T05:24:57Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I know what you mean. I was waiting for Rove to spout out with something like: > > “Ohio can’t be called for Obama! I was assured that the new software in the voting machines would be flipping votes anytime now! We were ripped off by that damn company!” “Turn those machines back on! TURN THOSE MACHINES BACK OOOONNNNNNNN!” ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/72 "2012-11-09T05:36:35Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > “Turn those machines back on! TURN THOSE MACHINES BACK OOOONNNNNNNN!” Hehehe… yeah it’s a shame that the republican SoS of Ohio wasn’t able to kajigger enough votes to Romney in the end, to the surprise of nearly everyone, including Rove himself. I don’t know what exit polls or final day polls ended up showing for Ohio, but I wouldn’t be surprised if election results skewed a point or two republican versus the exit polls/last day polls. That’s about as much as you can get away with without being caught. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/73 "2012-11-09T07:34:33Z")
From the Sunlight link, I found a PAC that did even worse than Rove. > [@](#): > > NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA POLITICAL VICTORY FUND > 0.81% 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/74 "2012-11-09T12:26:03Z")
One can hope he’s suffered a terminal setback, like Icarus flying too close to the sun of…something. Sorry. Metaphor failure. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/75 "2012-11-09T13:01:02Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I don’t know why the “job creators” are so upset. Look at all the jobs they created: actors with no souls to star in the ads, salaries for all the “little people” who actually did all the work to dress, light and tape the ads, the IT guys to make sure nobody’s tail was showing, the intern who brought coffee…all that money provided employment for hundreds of people. They should be trumpeting that as a Victory! Listen, they weren’t operating a charity. They expected a return on their investments in the form of tax breaks. What happened to consumer democracy? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/76 "2012-11-09T13:07:19Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [Karl Rove may have just outdone himself](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/11/08/karl-rove-obama-succeeded-by-suppressing-the-vote/?tid=pm_politics_pop): Or, more precisely, he himself got Roved. For all I know there could have been voter suppression on the part of the _GOP_ going on, but it was nothing compared to everyone’s fears of it (including mine.) So when Rove comes in and talks about blue suppression, no one’s gonna believe him because the narrative is already about red suppression, true or not. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/77 "2012-11-09T16:23:54Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > How the mighty have fallen. > > Just a few years ago he was nearly universally considered a genius whether good or evil and now he’s merely a punch line. Serious question, was his reputation totally unwarranted? Bush was elected twice, so he must have been doing something right. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/78 "2012-11-09T16:30:30Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Serious question, was his reputation totally unwarranted? Bush was elected twice, so he must have been doing something right. Right? In national elections at least, I think campaign managers are about as brilliant as their candidate is popular. It’s not unlike, say, managing a baseball team. You can certainly do things that help or hurt your team’s chances of winning, and the record says Rove made more good choices than bad ones just like Axelrod and Plouffe did. But you don’t have a good or bad season or campaign because of your manager. There are just too many things the manager can’t possibly control, the most obvious one being how well the players perform when they are on the field. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/79 "2012-11-09T16:37:51Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Or, more precisely, he himself got Roved. For all I know there could have been voter suppression on the part of the _GOP_ going on, but it was nothing compared to everyone’s fears of it (including mine.) So when Rove comes in and talks about blue suppression, no one’s gonna believe him because the narrative is already about red suppression, true or not. If you read the article, he’s not talking about actual voter suppression - preventing people who show up at the polls from being allowed to cast a ballot. He’s talking about how Obama pointed out lots of faults with Romney, his lies & inconsistencies, and how he wouldn’t be a very good President, thereby “suppressing” the pro-Romney vote. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341/80 "2012-11-09T17:01:11Z")
And it’s true that white voter turnout fell significantly compared to 2008. Of course overall turnout was down percentagewise and if you compare 2012 to 2008, Romney came closer to McCain’s total than Obama came to his own previous result. But if Republicans rely on white voters and and they don’t show up, it goes without saying that that’s a problem for them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-to-karl-rove/640341.md?page=5)