Why Rove Attacked Clinton

Two Republicans close to Karl Rove said that his decision to tie his exit from the Bush White House to a series of frontal assaults on the political viability of Sen. Hillary Clinton stems in part from his conviction that she will be the Democratic nominee, as Rove said. But there's also a bit of envy: Clinton has so successfully rehabiliated her image -- she's established her own political identity -- that Rove wants to pressure Republicans to begin their character attacks on Clinton now, rather than later.

It's a strategy Rove employed during the 2004 re-election, when the Bush campaign decided early to cover Bush's own negatives by portraying Sen. John Kerry as completely to lead the country during perilous times.

Aides to Sen. Barack Obama have another take. "There is a long view, which I think folks are missing," an Obama aide says. " This just underscores the old politics that we've been running against." In other words: Democrats are tired of Bush v. Clinton fights.

Comments

I agree with Obama

Posted by Lyn | August 16, 2007 11:51 AM

Rove's like the scorpion crossing the river in the old fable. He can't help himself. It's his nature. What he's incapable of doing is anything that might have a positive result for our society.

Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus | August 16, 2007 12:37 PM

Obama is right. Dem voters have much less tolerance for this rehashed 90s crap than the media and pundits do.

Posted by Joe Justice | August 16, 2007 1:35 PM

Rove is a reptile. He wallows in slime. He can't change his nature. He is reviled and despised by anybody with a shred of decency and honor. That's why the Republicans and Bush love him.

There will always be people who respond to Rove's kind of dirty tricks, and the Republican party seems to have most of them. The only way to deal with Rove is to bring contempt of Congress charges against him in any way that can be done and send the fat little bastard to jail. That's where he belongs.

Posted by JayMagoo | August 16, 2007 5:23 PM

Whatever his intentions, he is doing her a massive favor. Attacking Obama had mixed results at best. Fighting with the White House is only good for Hillary among Democratic Primary voters. They want someone to stand up to the GOP, particularly the Rovian wing. Personally, I have a sneaking suspician he wants to help because he thinks she's beatable, more so than Obama.

Rove is right to worry about her. People should not underestimate her.

Posted by Hebisner | August 16, 2007 6:03 PM

Obviously Rove understands he's helping Clinton.

But that aside, I agree with Obama that the Bush-Clinton fight is old and boring. What I don't know is whether that view is shared by the majority of the Democratic Party.

Posted by Paul | August 16, 2007 6:36 PM

Rove needs friends and has never found any by trying to be a good person. So he is just doing what he has done in the past, taking any he can get from among his enemies’ enemies. How good are the prospects? Well, a friend in need may be a friend in deed, but guys like Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay, Ralph Reed, and Scooter Libby probably can’t do any more for Rove than he can do for them. But you never know, ‘tis said that misery loves company.

Posted by Sam Osborne | August 17, 2007 7:07 AM

Do not underestimate Rove. Everything he does is calculated. The only person that Republicans, and many Democrats, dislike enough to eke out a Republican winner in 2008 is Senator Clinton. She is the best person for the Republicans to run against so by slamming her he hopes this will cause Democrats to rally in her favor and hand the Republicans exactly what they want.

Posted by SteveC | August 17, 2007 1:26 PM

Karl Rove is given more credit for being a political genius than he deserves. The tactics of a sixth grader,e.g. lying, name calling, and finger pointing, combined with the conscience of a sociopath, and you get Karl Rove.

These tactics working aren't a sign of Rove's genius, but rather a sign of how badly informed and educated the large percentage of the American population is. If the news media had been doing its job, Bush would have never been elected.

Posted by Jerry | August 19, 2007 3:37 AM

I found it very useful.

Posted by Larry | November 9, 2007 12:27 AM