(Reuters) – Nearly a decade ago he was dubbed “Bush’s Brain,” for his
influence in guiding Republican George W. Bush to the U.S. presidency.
interviewed by federal prosecutors at his attorney's offices in Washington, May 15, 2009. REUTERS/Robert Giroux
This year, Karl Rove could be Mitt Romney’s
brawn.
Perhaps no one, besides Romney himself, will have a greater influence on the course of the Republican
presidential campaign this fall than Rove, the brash, often-controversial architect of Bush’s two successful bids for the
White House.
Bush called Rove “Turd Blossom,” a term Texans use to describe a flower that grows from a pile of cow
dung. This year, thanks to the American Crossroads “Super PAC” organization that he co-founded, Rove will have vast resources
to fertilize Romney’s campaign: a massive wallet, one of the loudest megaphones in conservative media, and close ties to
Romney’s campaign.
It’s a dramatic re-emergence for Rove, who resigned as Bush’s deputy chief of staff in 2007 amid
questions about his role in the firing of a federal prosecutor.
In an interview with Reuters, Rove described his
vision for Crossroads, which he founded with his friend Ed Gillespie in 2010. Crossroads – which has received seven-figure
donations from several wealthy Republicans – hopes to spend $300 million on this election.
Beyond helping Romney match
Democratic President Barack Obama’s vast fundraising effort, Rove said he wants Crossroads to be a permanent figure on the
political landscape – a big-money, independent group that works in concert with the Republican Party on strategy and involves
its most influential donors.
Rove forecast a nasty presidential race and called the Obama campaign’s complaints about
Romney’s penchant for secrecy a veiled, “bigoted” attack on the Republican’s Mormon faith – a claim Obama’s staff
rejects.
On Tuesday, one wing of Rove’s organization, Crossroads GPS, reported raising $77 million in donations
during 2010 and 2011. A healthy share – $17 million — had been paid out to fellow conservative groups, elevating Rove’s
presence among advocacy organizations now boosted by his fundraising.
American Crossroads, the other wing of Rove’s
machine, has raised $27 million, more than any other political action committee (PAC) involved in the presidential race
except Restore Our Future, a Super PAC that supports Romney.
A 2010 Supreme Court ruling allowed Super PACs like
American Crossroads to receive unlimited donations from groups and individuals. Tax law allows non-profits like Crossroads
GPS to keep its donors anonymous as long as a majority of its money is spent on non-political “social welfare” purposes – for
example, TV ads that focus on issues rather than specific candidates.
Democrats have been slow to accept Super PACs,
saying they will corrupt elections by giving outsized influence to the very wealthy. Donations to campaigns are limited to
$2,500 per individual for the primary season, and another $2,500 for the November 6 election.
Rove counters that his
organization simply levels the playing field against liberal groups and unions that have poured millions into their own
causes for years.
“I got sick and tired of fighting with one hand tied behind my back,” Rove said, adding that he
started Crossroads “after getting our brains beat in for decades” in campaign fundraising.
Early ads purchased by
American Crossroads suggest that like Restore Our Future, Crossroads will help Romney by attacking Obama and his
policies.
Last week, Crossroads released a radio ad in Ohio and Pennsylvania coal country blasting Obama’s
Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Lisa Jackson, over federal regulations.
In the radio spot, a United
Mine Workers union leader says, “I would say this: The Navy SEALS shot Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, and Lisa Jackson shot us in
Washington.”
INTRIGUING STORYLINE
Rove’s role in the 2012 campaign offers an intriguing
storyline.
Under the law, Romney’s campaign may not coordinate its activities with Crossroads. Romney advisers say
they have no idea what Rove is what up to, but campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul praised groups such as Crossroads for their
help.
“President Obama and his political team have signaled they will spend a billion dollars to hold onto power,”
Saul said. “We are pleased that independent groups will be active in fighting this entrenched power so the country can get
back to work.”
Rove said he talks with Romney advisers but devotes his attention to his own organization. “I can say,
‘So and so wants to help,'” Rove said.
Romney’s camp is stacked with people who have worked with Rove. This month,
Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, left Crossroads to join Romney as a senior
adviser.
Another figure who straddles the worlds of Romney and Rove is Carl Forti, who has been dubbed “Karl Rove’s
Karl Rove.” Forti is a political director at Crossroads and launched the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future. He was
political director for Romney’s unsuccessful presidential bid in 2008.
Romney’s chief of staff is Beth Myers, the
former Massachusetts governor’s right-hand woman since 2002. Myers worked with Rove in Texas campaigns three decades ago,
and now is overseeing Romney’s search for a vice presidential running mate.
“She and Karl still remain friends,” said
Doug Gross, who led Romney’s Iowa campaign in 2008. “Karl has been through these wars and can provide her with sound
advice.”
Rove does not need to make a phone call to let the Romney campaign know what he’s thinking. Romney aides
need only turn on Fox News, for which he is analyst or check his opinion columns in the Wall Street Journal.
“There
are a lot of folks who wish they were in the same position that Karl is,” said longtime Republican strategist Dave
Carney.
MIXING IT UP WITH DEMOCRATS
With Bush in quiet retirement in Texas, Rove remains a favorite punching
bag for Democrats, and seems to relish public spats with them.
Rove told Reuters that the White House, and
particularly Obama senior adviser David Axelrod, are showing bigotry by calling Romney secretive. Rove said he sees such
criticism as a veiled dig at Romney’s Mormon faith.
“I saw with interest that this morning David Axelrod said it’s
not (Romney’s) religion, it’s these other things. That’s a very subtle way of saying, ‘It’s his religion,'” Rove said.
“It’s how they do it in Chicago – innuendo, code words, and … a religiously bigoted campaign, trying to make the fact that
he’s a Mormon into an off-putting thing.”
Axelrod scoffed at Rove’s criticism.
“No one needs lectures on
political morality from Karl Rove,” Axelrod said. “But I fully understand why a guy who is running a $250 million negative
campaign on behalf of Mitt Romney, funded by huge, secret contributions, would be offended by a discussion about public
disclosure.”
Democrats often chide Rove by citing the controversies that surrounded him during the Bush
administration.
Rove was investigated, but not indicted, in the case involving a White House leak that exposed Valerie
Plame Wilson as a covert operative for the CIA.
And in 2007, Rove resigned as Bush’s deputy chief of staff while
under subpoena from the U.S. Senate to testify about the firing of a federal prosecutor that Democrats said reflected
politicization of the Justice Department.
Last week, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina wrote in an e-mail to
supporters, “Karl Rove is saying that President Obama isn’t ‘up to the job.’ Does anyone really need a reminder of what
happened when they were in charge?”
For those in Romney’s circle, the attacks on Rove are a relief: Any shots thrown
Rove’s way are not directed at Romney.
For Rove, thanks to Crossroads, the attacks are likely continue.
“Part
of the objective was to set up Crossroads and … have it be a fixture,” Rove said. “We want it to have a permanent
presence.”
(Editing by David Lindsey and Will Dunham)
