# Karl Rove is building a "shadow Republican Party" to beat the Dems -- and the Tea Party? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 27, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224 "2010-09-27T15:13:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/1 "2010-09-27T15:13:13Z")
[The _New York Times_ reports:](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/us/26rove.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1285599662-uy4HRUgbpsCVTJL/dWwseQ) > [@](#): > > Already a prominent presence as an analyst on Fox News Channel and a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Rove is also playing a leading role in building what amounts to a shadow Republican Party, a network of donors and operatives that is among the most aggressive in the Republican effort to capture control of the House and the Senate. > > He has had a major hand in helping to summon the old coalition of millionaires and billionaires who supported Mr. Bush and have huge financial stakes in regulatory and tax policy, like Harold C. Simmons, a Texas billionaire whose holdings include a major waste management company that handles some radioactive materials; Carl H. Lindner Jr., a Cincinnati businessman whose American Financial Group includes several property and casualty insurance concerns; and Robert B. Rowling, whose TRT Holdings owns Omni Hotels and Gold’s Gym. > > Their personal and corporate money — as well as that of other donors who have not been identified — has gone to a collection of outside groups Mr. Rove helped form with Mr. Gillespie, including American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, which in turn are loosely affiliated with similar groups staffed or backed by other operatives and donors with ties to Mr. Rove. With $32 million and counting, they are now filling the void created by the diminished condition of the Republican National Committee, which has faced fund-raising difficulties under its embattled chairman, Michael Steele. > > “A lot of what we’re doing would normally be done with the R.N.C.,” said Ms. Cheney, who is part of a group, the Alliance for America’s Future, that is working with the organizations Mr. Rove helped start on encouraging early voting in House races this fall. “There’s no money there.” [_Vanity Fair_ adds:](http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/09/karl-rove-to-the-rescue-can-he-wrest-the-gop-from-the-tea-party.html) > [@](#): > > While the Shadow Party has supported Tea Party–favored candidates such as Kentucky senatorial hopeful Rand Paul and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s challenger Sharron Angle, Rove’s support of incumbent Mike Castle in the Delaware Republican senate positioned him as a threat, and possibly a corrective, to the Tea Party’s influence. This animosity may have reached its apex with the win of Castle-stormer Christine O’Donnell, a Tea Party–backed national oddity who, in a recent interview, accused Rove of “political cannibalism”—that is, eating of one’s own kind—and also predicted that “he’s eating some humble pie and he’s just trying to restore his reputation”—the humble pie presumably having Republican filling. > > Democrats too are anxious about the influence of Rove and Co.’s interference. “They’re running a very proficient party operation funded by millions of dollars of undisclosed special-interest dollars,” said Obama aide David Axelrod. “These guys are great political operatives, and they will have an impact in this election.” An operative at Rove’s organizations American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS also told the Times that the group already has its sights on 2012. It may be Karl Rove—not Jon Stewart, not Stephen Colbert, and certainly not the Democratic party leadership—who will be the one to restore sanity to America. And if he succeeds, Democrats, barely unable to combat _insanity,_ may find themselves nostalgic for nonsense. Interesting times. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/2 "2010-09-27T16:28:25Z")
I’m sure “Shadow” Party makes a great headline, but when you give interviews about what you’re doing, and talk about it openly, then it’s hardly in the shadows. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/3 "2010-09-27T16:38:52Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’m sure “Shadow” Party makes a great headline, but when you give interviews about what you’re doing, and talk about it openly, then it’s hardly in the shadows. I think he means it in the sense of the UK’s “shadow cabinet”, that is a parallel party apparatus thats out of power, rather then a “secret GOP party”. The point of a shadow cabinet is to publically and loudly oppose the actual cabinet, the opposite of being secretive. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/4 "2010-09-27T16:43:07Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > > [@John\_Mace](#): > > > > I’m sure “Shadow” Party makes a great headline, but when you give interviews about what you’re doing, and talk about it openly, then it’s hardly in the shadows. > > I think he means it in the sense of the UK’s “shadow cabinet”, that is a parallel party apparatus thats out of power, rather then a “secret GOP party”. The point of a shadow cabinet is to publically and loudly oppose the actual cabinet, the opposite of being secretive. Except in this case the “actual cabinet” is not the Obama Admin but the GOP’s institutional leadership. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/5 "2010-09-27T16:48:02Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > [@Simplicio](#): > > > > I think he means it in the sense of the UK’s “shadow cabinet”, that is a parallel party apparatus thats out of power, rather then a “secret GOP party”. The point of a shadow cabinet is to publically and loudly oppose the actual cabinet, the opposite of being secretive. > > Except in this case the “actual cabinet” is not the Obama Admin but the GOP’s institutional leadership. Yea, I’m just saying its the same general sense of the term “shadow”, not that there’s a perfect analogy between the two. But it seems kinda like a gimmick to reassure GOP donors who might be uncomfortable with the Tea Party antics or giving money to the seemingly inept RNC. As the article says, the with the exception of Castle, the money seems to basically be going to the same candidates that the RNC is backing. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/6 "2010-09-27T17:45:51Z")
Rove senses the Repubs can not control the baggers. The Repubs are all about control. They vote in unison and talk alike. When they get O’Donnell and Angle types on the stage ,they have to conjure up a way to defend them. As they get wackier ,the defense gets more difficult. It is necessary for Rove and the masterminds of the party to find a way to squeeze them out. But they can not do it publicly. That is why they will develop a sneaky and heavily financed sub group to do it under the radar. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/7 "2010-09-27T18:01:10Z")
I’m sure even most Republicans were hoping, in November 2008, that we had finally heard the last of Karl Rove. But I fear we won’t have heard the last of him until he has an unexpected encounter with garlic or sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/8 "2010-09-27T18:19:28Z")
Or until the Big Bad Wolf finally blows his house down. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/9 "2010-09-27T18:28:13Z")
Don’t reptiles lead unusually long lives? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/10 "2010-09-27T18:39:53Z")
Rove can’t be a reptile. Reptiles are cold blooded. That means they have circulatory systems, and Rove is obviously heartless. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/11 "2010-09-27T22:13:51Z")
"Winning " requires “Votes”. Somebody should tell lil Karl that you don’t get many votes in secret. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/12 "2010-09-27T22:28:06Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > "Winning " requires “Votes”. > > Somebody should tell lil Karl that you don’t get many votes in secret. I don’t think any of us here has anything to teach Karl Rove about how to get votes, and how you can’t get them, and most especially about all the secret things you **can** do to get them. Remember who we’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/13 "2010-09-27T22:30:15Z")
Maybe they will create that third party that some say we need. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/14 "2010-09-27T22:33:15Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > Maybe they will create that third party that some say we need. At present, Rove is straddling the fence, playing get-away-closer with the Tea Party. If the Tea Party movement split off to form a third party, I’m pretty sure Rove would stay with the GOP. He’s not as radical as they are; and he’s not a populist paleoconservative, he’s not a libertarian, he’s an elitist neoconservative; and, most importantly, he’s not an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/15 "2010-09-28T02:24:15Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > … [Karl Rove]'s not an idiot. Permanent Majority. Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/16 "2010-09-28T02:29:21Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Rove can’t be a reptile. Reptiles are cold blooded. That means they have circulatory systems, and Rove is obviously heartless. Are you sure? I hear Dick Cheney is the one without a pulse these days… They say it’s that mechanical assist to his heart or whatever, but that assumes he had a heart to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Baboonanza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f475e1/32.png) [@Baboonanza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baboonanza)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/17 "2010-09-28T13:19:54Z")
> [@](#): > > “A lot of what we’re doing would normally be done with the R.N.C.,” said Ms. Cheney, who is part of a group, the **Alliance for America’s Future** , that is working with the organizations Mr. Rove helped start on encouraging early voting in House races this fall. Well, I guess the ‘Alliance for the Enrichment of Plutocrats at the Expense of the American People’ doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-building-a-shadow-republican-party-to-beat-the-dems-and-the-tea-party/555224/18 "2010-09-28T22:10:49Z")
> [@Baboonanza](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > “A lot of what we’re doing would normally be done with the R.N.C.,” said Ms. Cheney, who is part of a group, the **Alliance for America’s Future** , that is working with the organizations Mr. Rove helped start on encouraging early voting in House races this fall. > > Well, I guess the ‘Alliance for the Enrichment of Plutocrats at the Expense of the American People’ doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. I refuse to enrich illegal aliens from somewhere that’s not even a planet anymore! 😃