April 18, 2008
Rove Developing Outside Groups To Help GOP In Fall
Publicly, Karl Rove is busy penning columns, appearing on television, giving speeches and writing a book, but the former White House political guru is spending time out of the limelight trying to nurture new independent political groups aiming to raise tens of millions of dollars to boost the entire Republican ticket in November.
Six GOP consultants and lobbyists — with varying knowledge of Rove’s activities — told National Journal that Rove has been working for a few months to help line up resources and devise strategies for spending that money to help his party keep the White House and stave off losses in the House and Senate. Rove has had regular chats with GOP operatives he has worked with in Washington, and several prominent Republican donors nationwide — including some billionaires who were active in similar groups during the 2004 election cycle.
“Karl is up to his eyeballs in this,” says one prominent GOP consultant who has met with Rove a few times this year. “They’re trying to figure out who is going to do the presidential, who is going to do the Senate and who is going to do the House. They’re trying to assign resources to maximize the dollars and minimize duplication. Karl has taken it over.”
To be effective, he adds, they need to raise “at least $100 million,” a sum that is likely to be at least what similar Democratic outside groups will spend. Rove didn’t return four phone calls in recent weeks seeking comment for this story.
Rove’s Rolodex is expansive, and sources say he has been on the phone or meeting with old friends from Texas like oilman T. Boone Pickens and Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who are expected to pony up millions of dollars this cycle to a few outside groups set up as either 527 or 501 (c) (4) entities. In the 2004 elections, two GOP 527 groups — Progress for America and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — together spent over $60 million on television ads that were instrumental in boosting the re-election bid of President Bush.
One new group being cobbled together includes old associates of Rove from the lobbying and communications firm DCI Group, including Tom Synhorst. The firm was heavily involved in the two major 527s in 2004. So far this election cycle, the key GOP group to run ads has been Freedom’s Watch which has relied almost entirely on the wealth of Adelson, the third richest man in the nation, whose worth has been pegged at $28 billion by Forbes magazine. After a few staff departures and some internal friction, the group recently hired Carl Forti, a veteran strategist at the National Republican Congressional Committee, and it is likely to focus increasingly on helping a few dozen House candidates and has the backing to potentially pour tens of millions into them.
(National Journal's Peter Stone)
Posted at 06:06 PM
Comments
This just in, Karl Rove is a Republican Operative.
I mean c'mon. Is NJ/On Call hiring? B/c you consistently miss out on a gigantic chunk of political news.
Better yet, let's talk about Karl Rove and Swift Boat Vets for Truth as if they were legitimate and not a bunch of lying thugs.
Really. This article plainly depicts what is wrong with Washington D.C., and Hotline does its best to let us know that they are more than willing to shill for just about anyone, including Karl Rove, a man who exposed a vital CIA NOC during wartime.
Doesn't get much more pathetic, NJ/On Call. Absolutely pathetic. Shame on you.
Ethan | 04.18.08 07:47 PM
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Actually, there is a huge story here. Leaving aside the candidacies, this is American politics today: the efforts to gain more "transparency" and centralized control over political speech (read: McCain-Feingold) is backfiring. The political parties are no longer in control; the RNC is almost a backwater in the 2008 race (or soon will be, if these trends continue). The "issues" are hardly discussed in the presidential debates (often because there is very little difference between all three major candidates on most important issues).
The real fights are where they have been for the last twenty-eight years: in the ideological trenches. Since de Tocqueville, Americans have banded together. Did you watch the John Adams mini-series on HBO? Parties began right out of the box.
In an effort to get some control over this, politicians have been trying to impose FEC and IRS regulations on political speech. Having won SCotUS approval in the McConnell case, the FEC and IRS went all-out in the last few years to clamp down on any sort of political speech. Want to run an ad on LEGISLATION that includes the name of a federal candidate within a time period before a primary or general election (which, for President, is basically an entire year)? You CANNOT. Or you could not, before the recent Wisconsin Right to Life decision.
Now, new money and new players are gutting the "reforms." This process isn't new; I've been doing this for thirty years (finding and explaining loopholes and opportunities for both parties and even some third parties). Gotten some national news ("OMG! Look at this evil!"). But, of course, it continues.
Obama recognizes the problem and deals with it forthrightly, as he did in a recent statement in which he said the American people have created an alternative campaign financing system. The other candidates, including McCain, who has made this one of his signature issues, have not, though McCain is reaping the whirlwind he created.
So, don't trash On Call. They haven't put together the pieces yet, but this kind of story is critical to the future of campaigning. Either you like the new technologically-driven, bottom-up "free speech" drives, or you don't. Either way, it's news when the people break free of government-imposed constraints.
Pining for Chuck Todd | 04.21.08 09:25 AM
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