In Rove's Footsteps

[question everything]

In Rove's Footsteps

They learned from the master, and are applying the lessons in the hottest races ahead. Meet the architect's protégés.
By Richard Wolffe
Newsweek

Oct. 2, 2006 issue - In a darkened edit room in downtown Dallas, admaker Scott Howell is tinkering with his latest political firebomb. The ad starts with illegal immigrants running across the border. It then cuts to images of Osama bin Laden and Zacarias Moussaoui. Finally comes the real target of Howell's attack: Harold Ford Jr., the Democrat locked in a close race for the Senate seat in Tennessee. Over an edgy hip-hop soundtrack, the ad castigates Ford for voting against border security and the Patriot Act. "No wonder Harold Ford has been rated the most liberal congressman from Tennessee," the narrator intones. The ad ends with the word "liberal" pulsing on the screen as a shadowy figure walks down a long hallway.

If that ad sounds familiar, it's not surprising — it's a classic in the Karl Rove genre. Howell is one of a group of admakers, strategists and direct-mailers who learned the craft from the architect of George W. Bush's White House—and are now shaping some of the hottest races of 2006. Some are in Texas, making money as consultants; some are in Washington, toiling inside the administration or the party. Most of them will be in contact with Rove as Election Day draws near. None can match their mentor's talent; armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of electoral history, Rove combines a strategic vision for his party with a ruthless will to win. But as his time in the West Wing draws to a close, Rove leaves a legacy well beyond the White House—in the next generation that he's nurtured, and the campaigning style they share.

(snip)

Running the Rove playbook in Washington are Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Sara Taylor, White House political director. Together, they've implemented a strategy that has worked wonders through the last two election cycles. But facing the tides of history and a war-weary electorate, they will need all of Rove's tricks to keep the party in power. Mehlman first started working with Rove in the embryonic Bush campaign in 1999 and later managed Bush's re-election in 2004. "We've learned a lot from each other—from what we've done right and what we've done wrong," he says. "One is that there's no place in America we can't go and unfold our Republican banner. Another is the importance of a strong grass-roots effort—the Amway-like model."

(snip)

Rove will be watching his protégés closely, as he struggles to retain the GOP's control of Congress. One of his biggest concerns is that some congressional campaigns aren't recruiting as many volunteers as they did last time around. "You have to constantly replenish people. In some instances it has been done very successfully by some candidates," he told NEWSWEEK. "In other instances, it's not been done so well."

(snip)

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14974832/site/newsweek/

[NC_Nurse]

1. ...

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[calimary]

2. Thanks for posting this. We NEED to WATCH these people.

Closely. And keep track. And take notes. And take names. And be ready to meet AND STOP them head-on. People like these will be there after rove leaves the scene. And they will keep the evil metastacizing - or will keep trying to do so.

[question everything]

3. And, hopefully, Clinton showed everyone the way on how to respond