Karl Rove and the Consequences of Partisan Politics

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ivan Seeking
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    politics
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers around the controversial legacy of Karl Rove in American politics, with participants expressing relief at his departure and criticizing his tactics. Rove is accused of significantly lowering the standards of decency in political campaigning, with comparisons made to other notorious figures like Lee Atwater and Donald Segretti. The conversation highlights specific unethical practices, such as the use of "caging lists" to disenfranchise minority voters and the manipulation of voting processes in heavily Republican districts. Participants reflect on the long-term damage caused by Rove's strategies and express concern about the potential for these tactics to continue influencing future elections. The discussion also speculates on the impact of significant events, like 9/11, on the Bush presidency and Rove's political strategies.
Ivan Seeking
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
Messages
8,194
Reaction score
2,488
In honor of the man who lowered the bar for decency in American politics as much as anyone that I can remember: Good riddance!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Did anyone ever see the MC Rove Youtube clip ?

marlon
 
Needless to say, I do not think he resigned because he wants to spend more time with his family.
 
http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml

the daily show's goodbye to rove. watch "where's my karl" and "the departed." the departed is hilarious :biggrin:
 
Damage is done.

Goodbye anyway.
 
Chi Meson said:
Damage is done.

Goodbye anyway.
Much of it will linger. Republicans sent certified mail to the residences of foreign-deployed soldiers in heavily-minority areas, and when they could not sign for the mail, they used this as "evidence" that the soldiers' addresses were invalid and got them removed from voting rolls, so they could not get absentee ballots and vote. You may want to Google on "caging lists" to see how this works. In heavily Republican districts in Ohio in the last election, waits to vote were short and sweet, while people in districts heavily populated by minorities often had to wait 8-10 hours or more to vote and had their eligibility to vote challenged when they got to the head of the line. Rove and his minions turned election theft into a high art, and their methodology and organizational structure is still in place, ready to pervert the next election unless our elected officials pull their heads out of their butts and clean things up.
 
Ivan Seeking said:
In honor of the man who lowered the bar for decency in American politics as much as anyone that I can remember: Good riddance!

He lowered the bar more than Lee Atwater? Believe it or not, I think it's a toss up as to which was the dirtiest campaigner in election history. Perhaps you could give the nod to Rove, since his influence extended beyond just the campaigns.

I think it's safe to say that both Rove and Atwater managed to lower the bar below what their mentor, Donald Segretti, managed to do. Segretti was small time with little imagination. Forged campaign literature (meant to embarrass Democratic candidates) got him a three year sentence (of which he only served 6 months), but it lacks the creativity of Atwater and Rove.

Getting caught probably makes Segretti inferior to Rove and Atwater, but, actually, Rove got caught for stealing Democratic campaign letterhead while in college - he just didn't get any jail time for it. He and some other college Republicans used the stolen letterhead to invite the homeless to a Democratic fundraiser, which is actually kind of funny. Then Rove dropped out of college to pursue a career of dirty political tricks.
 
Of course his real goal was to make everyone a Republican. :rolleyes:

Nut... I guess that in principle it is possible to govern with 50.1% for starters, but you need a winning team to do it - the skill to build a true consensus. But Rove did it his way. He achieved nearly everything that he ever dreamed, and the Republicans will likely pay the price for at least a decade, and they deserve everything they get.

I wonder what the Bush presidency would look like without 911.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top