Topic: Karl Rove

The IRS Also Released Confidential 'Social Welfare' Applications to the Media

REUTERS

Here's another smoldering ember in the IRS's Tea Party targeting kerfuffle: the same Cincinnati office responsible for giving some extra scrutiny to conservative "social welfare" groups applying for non-profit status also released confidential, pending applications to at least one media organization.

By Elspeth Reeve

May 2, 2013

Karl Rove's Anti-Akin Strategy Is Really Full of Mini Todd Akins

Rove writes today that Republicans have an "outside chance" of winning a majority in the Senate in 2014, as long as they don't nominate awful candidates who "self-destruct" like Akin and Richard Mourdock did last year. Here's an analysis of some of the most promising seats for the GOP to pick up, with an analysis of their Akin potential.

Comments | 2,186 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 25, 2013

People Sure Do Feel Sorry for George W. Bush

Here's the curious thing about the defenses of Bush during his legacy tour: rather than saying he did a good job as president, his allies are emphasizing that he had a really hard job.

Comments | 3,321 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 12, 2013

Yo! GOP Raps: The Greatest Hits of Republican Hip Hop

Former Bush adviser Dana Perino made America cringe by rapping a response to Jay-Z's rapped defense of his trip to Cuba,  following in the footsteps of many conservatives who have rapped before. They have never not made us cringe.

Comments | 1,092 Views

By Connor Simpson

Mar 24, 2013

The Sunday Grind

Bloomberg and LaPierre Trade Shots; Rand Paul Disapproves of Your Dope

We were denied the sure-to-be-explosive on-camera face-off between NRA chief Wayne LaPierre and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, but they still fired shots at each other during their solo segments on the Sunday talk shows. Elsewhere, Rand Paul talked about his feelings on marijuana. Hint: He's a bit more mellow than you'd expect. 

Comments | 2,259 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 18, 2013

Karl Rove's History of Bad Advice Is Haunting the GOP

As the Republican party continues to re-evaluate itself this week, Rove's role is looking increasingly dangerous when you compare his predictions to the facts on gay marriage, the Iraq war, the 2012 election, and more.

Comments | 2,242 Views

By Connor Simpson

Mar 17, 2013

The Sunday Grind

Boehner 'Absolutely' Trusts the President; Ryan's Budget Is a 'Vision'

The Speaker of the House talks with Martha Raddatz about the state of his relationship with the President, while Paul Ryan defends his budget from the criticisms that it's old, boring and a recycled campaign documents. 

Comments | 2,931 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Feb 26, 2013

The Ashley Judd Dirt-Digging Campaign Is in Effect

Now that the old white guy at the Pentagon is set to be confirmed, the online conservative media seems ready to target a female movie star, no matter how thin the evidence.

Comments | 3,965 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 14, 2013

What Is the GOP Grassroots?

"GOP grassroots" can mean thousands of activists, drawn from Christian conservatives and Tea Partiers, gathering because they feel the the country and culture is drifting dangerously off course, or it can mean the paid consultants, like FreedomWorks, who think a video in which two female interns, one dressed as a panda and the other as Hillary Clinton, simulated oral sex, is hilarious.

Comments | 862 Views

By Connor Simpson

Feb 11, 2013

Nate Silver Calls an Early End to Karl Rove's War on the Tea Party

The king of all geeks thinks the would-be king of all Super PACs is about to watch his house of campaign cards implode, which could actually lead to something of a Tea Party resurgence.

Comments | 4,746 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Feb 8, 2013

Karl Rove Is Officially Obsessed with Ashley Judd

Washington might blame Mitch McConnell for this even having a chance to become a thing, but Karl Rove is blaming Hollywood — and he isn't backing off his Ashley Judd for Senate smear campaign.

Comments | 4,040 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Feb 7, 2013

Steve King Scores One for the Tea Party in Karl Rove's New War

Just when you thought Rove had taken back control of his own war on the Tea Party, the outspoken Iowa congressman sent a fundraising email to supporters today that, in very clear language, says Rove is trying to "bully" him out of running in 2014.

Comments | 345 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 7, 2013

Cranks, Haters, Bigots No Longer Welcome in the GOP

Fox News and the Republican Party, while still technically distinct entities, are moving to purge figures who are so controversial they're damaging the conservative brand. Even Dick Morris says he was wrong.

Comments | 3,372 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 6, 2013

Karl Rove's War with the Tea Party Is On

Karl Rove said on Fox News Tuesday night, "This is not Tea Party versus the establishment... I don’t want a fight." It looks like he's too late.

Comments | 3,449 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 4, 2013

Rove's 'No More Akins' Group Outrages Conservatives

Karl Rove's American Crossroads has started a new group to make sure the 2014 Senate races produce zero Todd Akins. But it turns out some conservatives like Rove less than Akin.

Comments | 7,185 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 31, 2013

Karl Rove Is Projecting

Karl Rove warns that Democrats not to over-interpret the 2012 election results in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Thursday, arguing that the supposed "permanent Democratic majority" could be gone in an election or two if they overreach. Rove, of all people, should know.

Comments | 1,031 Views

By Richard Lawson

Jan 17, 2013

The Call Sheet

Nicki and Mariah Fail to Draw a Crowd

Today in show business news: American Idol's premiere ratings were significantly lower than hoped, a good actress gets a good gig, and Karl Rove will be back for more.

Comments | 2,692 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Dec 6, 2012

The Era of Fox Without Karl Rove Didn't Last Very Long

Less than two days after the new pundit rules at Fox News surfaced, with special permission suddenly required for Karl Rove to appear on-air, Special Report with Bret Baier has booked him for Monday's show.

Comments | 2,637 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Dec 5, 2012

Inside a Genius New Policy at Fox News: We Get It Wrong, He Gets Punished

You have to give credit where credit is due: In a world where there are few consequences for appallingly bad pundit predictions, Fox News — not The New York Times, not ABC News, not CNN — is taking the lead in pundit accountability.

Comments | 8,449 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Dec 4, 2012

Karl Rove Is in Time Out

Less than a month after his strange, dramatic and sort of sad election night meltdown on air, Fox News is distancing itself from Karl Rove.

Comments | 4,964 Views

By Connor Simpson

Nov 10, 2012

Karl Rove Fights Off His Reckoning

When Barack Obama won reelection by a wide margin, a lot of people thought it spelled the end for Karl Rove. The GOP's most dominant money man over the last decade was toast, everyone thought, but Rove is digging in his heels and preparing for a fight. He's not going anywhere. 

Comments | 22,221 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Nov 8, 2012

Latest Megyn Kelly Poll: Jon Stewart 100, Karl Rove's Republican Math 0

We've all been waiting four years that special night in November—no, not the election. We're talking about The Daily Show's morning (well, evening if you want to be specific) after show: the night when we get to watch Jon Stewart watch Fox News implode: it's here, and it's delicious.

Comments | 29,014 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Nov 7, 2012

Rove's War with Fox's Nerds: The Backstory

The best moment on television Election Night was when Karl Rove picked a fight with the usually nameless and faceless Fox News guys who crunch the numbers and call the winners—and lost. Why'd he do that?

Comments | 44,580 Views

By Connor Simpson

Nov 3, 2012

Who Will Be Right This Time: Karl Rove or Nate Silver?

Two pundits have dominated the conversation (for different reasons) leading up to election day: Nate Silver and Karl Rove. They're both guessing a different outcome in 2012, but back in the heady days of the 2008 campaign they both predicted an Obama victory. 

Comments | 30,830 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Nov 1, 2012

Karl Rove's Prediction vs. Karl Rove's Map

Karl Rove predicts that Mitt Romney will win at least 279 electoral college votes, and 51 percent of the popular vote to President Obama's 48 percent in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. But it's a very different prediction than the one Rove has been making on his own website

Comments | 77,292 Views

By Connor Simpson

Oct 28, 2012

The Sunday Grind

Aides Fight Over Who Is More Confident in Ohio

Campaign aides used their appearances on the Sunday talk shows to fight over who is more confident they're going to win in Ohio next week, while Republicans come to the defense of Richard Mourdock. 

Comments | 1,496 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Oct 24, 2012

Clint Eastwood's Chair-Free Endorsement of Mitt Romney

Americans will get a second helping of Clint Eastwood's endorsement of Mitt Romney, but this time it's more serious, and does not involve talking to chairs.

Comments | 1,035 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Oct 19, 2012

Rove vs. The Kochs vs. Restore Our Future

If Mitt Romney wins, the $1 billion conservative super PACs raised this election will be seen as money well spent. If he loses, there will be a fight among the biggest groups over which one made the most effective ads and who gets to be the "shadow boss" of the Republican Party.

Comments | 5,518 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Aug 31, 2012

Karl Rove Wants to 'Murder' Todd Akin

Karl Rove has repeatedly tried to push the crazies out of the Republican Party—Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell got subtle nudges, for example—but with Todd Akin, the Senate candidate in Missouri with odd theories about rape, Rove is giving more of a shove.

Comments | 3,588 Views

By Serena Dai

Aug 16, 2012

Today's Best

Five Best Thursday Columns

Ezra Klein on Obama launching Ryan to the top, Karl Rove on GOP's Medicare advantage, Charles K. Armstrong on change in North Korea, Victor Davis Hanson on the culture divide in California, and Dana Milbank on the Democrats getting dirty.

Comments | 2,751 Views

By Kim Barker, ProPublica

Aug 13, 2012

Two Conservative Nonprofits Are Outspending All Super PACs combined

Two conservative nonprofits, one started by GOP strategist Karl Rove and the other backed by billionaire Koch brothers, have poured almost $60 million into TV ads to influence the presidential race so far, outgunning all super PACs put together. 

Comments | 2,069 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jul 26, 2012

Karl Rove Hates the Money Game He's So Good at Playing

Karl Rove doesn't want it to be this way. He doesn't want outside groups like his own to have so much power.

Comments | 1,207 Views

By Connor Simpson

Jul 15, 2012

The Sunday Grind

Romney 'Retired Retroactively' from Bain

Ed Gillespie went on State of the Union to explain that Romney "retired retroactively" from Bain in 2002, while a former Bain parter appeared on MSNBC to explain that it was a management board who ran the company while he was gone. Elsewhere: Republicans complain about Obama's ads while Democrats tell them to stop whining.

Comments | 5,863 Views

By John Hudson

Jul 13, 2012

The Guy Bankrolling Karl Rove Is a Casino Mogul

By now, Karl Rove's juggernaut fundraising vehicle Crossroads GPS is famous for its influence and wealth. What's less visible is one of its principal financiers: casino mogul Steve Wynn, a billionaire ex-Democrat who voted for President Obama in 2008.

Comments | 862 Views

By Connor Simpson

Jun 24, 2012

Karl Rove Was the Funniest Person at Romney's Big Park City Retreat

The Romney campaign packed up their things for a weekend getaway in Park City, Utah, where top campaign supporters got to mingle with some of the GOP's mast famous faces, including runaway comedy star of the weekend Karl Rove. 

Comments | 2,914 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jun 21, 2012

What to Make of the Obama Campaign's Spending Spree

Karl Rove is absolutely delighted at the Obama campaign's burn rate -- how many millions more dollars it's spending than it's bringing through fundraising -- six month before the election. But is this a sign of a campaign struggling or a campaign hard at work?

Comments | 2,591 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jun 11, 2012

Karl Rove's Super PAC's Rapid Response a Little Too Rapid

When news broke that Commerce Secretary John Bryson was involved in two car crashes just minutes apart this weekend, Karl Rove's Super PAC American Crossroads clearly felt the news gods were shining upon it.

Comments | 2,243 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jun 7, 2012

Ad Watch

A Promise to Blow Away Obamacare

Today in Ad Watch: A mustachioed Arizona congressional candidate tries to get his name out there by shooting a law, Karl Rove's organization begins airing ads in three state races, and Obama insists we've made progress on jobs.

Comments | 6,897 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jun 4, 2012

Ad Watch

A New Issue in the Presidential Race: Anna Wintour

President Obama and the RNC debate whether Vogue editor Anna Wintour is a silly person., Obama attacks Mitt Romney's record as Massachusetts governor, and Karl Rove's Super PAC complains Obama is being too mean too early.

Comments | 11,049 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 22, 2012

Ad Watch

Obama Administration Ages Woman 20 Years in Single Term

Today in Ad Watch: Karl Rove tries the soft sell on swing voters using a little CGI, while President Obama and Mitt Romney fight for reporters over Bain Capital.

Comments | 3,571 Views

By Connor Simpson

May 20, 2012

The Sunday Grind

Rove Calls Wright Attack Ad 'Stupid'; Ryan May or May Not Be in VP Talk

Karl Rove thinks the proposed Jeremiah Wright attack ad was a "stupid" idea on Fox News Sunday; Paul Ryan defends his budget and dodges a question over whether or not he's being considered as Mitt's running mate on Meet the Press

Comments | 2,927 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 14, 2012

Ad Watch

Obama's Bain Ad Is All About the White Guys

In today's Ad Watch: President Obama goes after Mitt Romney's business career, a conservative group makes an Occupy Wall Street argument, and Republicans try to reach young folks.

Comments | 4,087 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 3, 2012

Ad Watch

Campaign Ads Aimed at Nerds

The general election has begun! And so has the onslaught of campaign ads. Which ones succeed? Which fail? In Ad Watch, we review them as they come out. Today: Karl Rove makes a joke about Obama's new slogan, a Vermont candidate jokes about a 1984 ad, and Mitt Romney saves a teen.

Comments | 862 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Apr 27, 2012

That's Not the 'Ferris Bueller' Song in Karl Rove's New Ad

Forgive us for asking, but do you even know the name of the Swiss electronica band who sang that "Oh Yeah" the song from Ferris Bueller's Day Off that they swear is in Karl Rove's janky, and much-talked-about Obama attack ad?

Comments | 1,752 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 27, 2012

Ad Watch

The General Election's Underway! What Kind of Cool Is Obama?

The general election has begun! And so has the onslaught of campaign ads. In today's Ad Watch: Bill Clinton makes the case that only President Obama can make tough national security decisions, while Karl Rove makes the case that Obama's an empty suit.

Comments | 4,979 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 26, 2012

Poll Watch

Karl Rove's Electoral Map Looks Pretty Good for Obama

Mitt Romney and President Obama are pretty close in national polls, but what really matters is who's winning in the right states. Here's our guide to today's polls and why they matter.

Comments | 12,760 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 30, 2012

Karl Rove Casts Obama as James Bond

Karl Rove wasn't mad when Dmitry Medvedev scoffed that Mitt Romney's claim that Russia was our "No. 1 geopolitical foe," sounded like a 1970s Hollywood movie -- he was inspired.

Comments | 2,243 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 27, 2012

You Don't Know Rove

Once the purported puppetmaster of George W. Bush's White House, Karl Rove may be best known now as a Fox News talking head and Wall Street Journal op-ed writer. But behind the scenes, he's still pulling strings as the leader of one of the most important outside groups backing Republicans.

Comments | 2,243 Views

By Adam Martin

Mar 22, 2012

Axelrod Can't Help Freaking Out at a Karl Rove Misquote

We were wondering if President Barack Obama's camp would have something to say about Karl Rove's Wall Street Journal op-ed about The Road We've Traveled, and David Axelrod's Twitter freak-out makes it clear Rove's inaccurate dismissal of the Bin Laden raid touched a nerve.

Comments | 3,203 Views

By Dino Grandoni

Feb 17, 2012

Chart of the Day

The Celebrity Charity Auction Index

How much would you pay to spend time with Samuel L. Jackson? Jeremy Lin? Snoop Dogg? Karl Rove? These don't have to be hypothetical questions. You actually can pay to meet them and other marquee names. For charity, of course.

Comments | 1,150 Views

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App