Karl Rove, the Bernie Madoff of the Republican Establishment, Gets Pimp-Slapped by Tom Delay on Defunding Fight

In all of American history, has there ever been a bigger campaign fundraising failure than Karl Rove?

Look at it only in terms of dollars wasted during a single election cycle. In 2012 alone, Rove torched $400 million on losing candidates, if Donald Trump's estimate is accurate.

As if that record wasn't enough, Rove's bizarre attacks on conservative candidates helped suppress the vote. Millions of members of the conservative base, discouraged by a squishy moderate presidential candidate and lack of a coherent attack on a failed president, boycotted the 2012 election.

Now Rove is attacking principled conservatives like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee; these are men who have actually taken a stand to stop the disastrous onset of Obamacare. As October 1st nears, hospitals are shedding jobs, full-time workers are being transitioned to part-time, and those with coverage are losing their coverage. State exchanges aren't ready for prime time, and the entire system is headed for a very ugly collapse.

This isn't a game! This is about right and wrong! This is about preserving the American Republic!

And Rove attacks those who are standing with the American people, claiming the threat of a government shutdown over defunding Obamacare is a losing proposition.

As usual Rove is dead wrong. During the last government shutdown, when a conservative House smacked Bill Clinton around and forced him to balance the budget, Delay was the House Majority Whip. He was there. Rove was not. He knows what transpired. Rove does not.

Interviewed on yesterday's Mark Levin show, Delay patiently explained to listeners -- using small words for Rove and his apparatchik Dana Perino -- the awesome benefits the Republicans accrued by standing up to Bill Clinton.

Levin: Now we're fighting over principle in the House [regarding defunding Obamacare] and your Senator is really one of the bright spots. He's one of the leaders of the Constitutional conservatives and he's under assault and not just by the Left, Tom Delay, not just by the Democrats, but by Republicans! What do you say about that?

Delay: I'm saddened by the Republicans attacking him, he's doing what he thinks is right, frankly, he's doing the right thing. I expect it from the Democrats, I mean the House changed their position, so he's having an impact.

Levin: And you can't win all these fights, can you?

Delay: No, you can't win them all, but you pick the ones you can win. In fact, you gotta fight! You gotta fight!

...Not only is Obamacare worth fighting over, it is a perfect political situation! It's great politics! Americans want Obamacare out of there. And when you can set up a situation where the Continuing Resolution, that funds the federal government, but doesn't fund Obamacare... then the whole issue is on Obamacare, where it needs to be!

Levin: Well, I'm troubled by so-called conservative media, too... it's like they're waging war against the conservatives... they're waging war against the base! That's kind of crazy, don't you think?

Delay: I have to tell you, I've been out there in the real world. And if the Republicans don't energize the base, they're going to have a hard time next year in the elections. Nothing energizes the base like a good fight -- and a good fight for the right reasons.

I've got to tell you, I was with a bunch of people that aren't connected to [DC] when it was reported that the House was moving in a different direction [to defund Obamacare in the Continuing Resolution]... and I've never seen such energy in these people...

Levin: What happened when the federal government shut down in 1995? Who won that?

Delay: It was the most important thing we ever did. I was there, I was the Majority Whip. We had sent the president [Clinton] a Continuing Resolution; we had cut 100 agencies, offices and programs under the Contract With America. And, of course, he didn't like that.

He vetoes the bill and shuts down the government. It was the best thing we ever did.

And we were 21 days fighting, which gave us the opportunity to explain to the American people, to tell our story, and the most important part was we took on the president.

And we used the leverage of the Constitutional power of the purse. And, unfortunately, Bob Dole went down on a Sunday afternoon and opened up the government, but even Clinton admitted that if we'd lasted one more day, he would have caved.

But the point is: we sent a signal to the President. This new majority will take you over the cliff. We're crazy. And the result of that was: for six years, Bill Clinton did not get to sign one major bill he initiated. Everything he signed -- he vetoed welfare reform twice and the balanced budget twice -- but then he took credit for them, but everything he signed was generated by the power of the purse out of the House of Representatives.

And the politics was great! I don't know where they [Rove and company] get that we took it on the chin as Republicans because we stood up and fought. We gained two or three Senate seats in the next election and we only lost a few House seats [retaining a huge majority].

Levin: Yep, we have Republicans [like Rove] rewriting history and it's a stunning thing.

As for Ted Cruz, the distinguished Senator from Texas has offered to debate Rove on his tactics for defunding Obamacare. Suffice it to say that Cruz will hear only crickets because Rove is a complete failure.

Say, @KarlRove - next time you're on @FoxNews please show us on your whiteboard how the @GOP wins without the conservative base. Schmuck.

— Doug Ross (@directorblue) August 1, 2013

Rove is successful at fundraising, but his political track record is one only the '62 Mets could envy.

Rove is the Bernie Madoff of the Republican establishment. Anyone who sends him a single dollar might as well be lighting cigars with the money.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.