August 10, 2008
Rove: Obama Will Make Political Veep Pick
Suggests Choice Of Virginian Tim Kaine Would Be An "Intensely Political Choice" That Ignores Responsibilities Of Presidency
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Rove's Perspective On Campaign '08
Karl Rove believes that Barack Obama should have a significant advantage over John McCain in the polls. Rove tells Bob Schieffer that Obama's slight lead shows that people have "grave doubts" about him.
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Rove Blasts Obama
Appearing before an assembly of NRA members, Former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove criticized Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama for his policies on gun control.
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Virginia Governor Tim Kaine on Face The Nation (CBS)
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Karl Rove appearing on Face The Nation (CBS)
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In-Depth
VP Hot Sheet: Obama
CBSNews.com ranks the top contenders to be Obama's running mate.
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VP Hot Sheet: McCain
CBSNews.com ranks the top contenders to be McCain's running mate.
"I think he's going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice," Rove said. "He's going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he's going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He's not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president."
Rove singled out Virginia governor Tim Kaine, also a Face The Nation guest, as an example of such a pick.
"With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he's been a governor for three years, he's been able but undistinguished," Rove said. "I don't think people could really name a big, important thing that he's done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America."
Rove continued: "So if he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, `You know what? I'm really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States? What I'm concerned about is, can he bring me the electoral votes of the state of Virginia, the 13 electoral votes in Virginia?'"
Kaine, who is widely seen as one leading contenders to become Obama's running mate, said that the fact that Obama is competitive in his home state of Virginia is "basically astounding" since no Democrat has won there since 1964.
He said polls that show Obama with only a slight edge over rival John McCain nationally are not a cause for concern.
"We are feeling very, very good about where the senator is in the polls and we obviously expect as America - the American electorate turns their attentions even more to this race in connection with the conventions, we expect to do - to do quite well," Kaine said.
Kaine suggested that McCain's recent ads casting Obama as a celebrity are "out of touch with what the issues are."
"I mean, it was funny, but wearing a clown suit and juggling would be funny, too, but it doesn't connect with the concerns Americans have about gas prices, about the war, about the economy," he said. "So I think on things like that, shoot, I hope the McCain camp does more of those ads and we'll just let them do those ads."
He added that while Obama is running positive ads during the Olympics, "Senator McCain is running the same old negative, Karl Rove-style ads that we're all tired of."
Rove said the closeness in the polls between McCain and Obama is a signal that Americans are have concerns about the Illinois senator.
"With a restive electorate, with an economy that's sort of chugging along, with a war in the background, at the end of eight years of Republican rule in the White House, Obama should be way ahead," Rove said. "...the fact that he isn't says that there are grave doubts about Senator Obama."
Rove said Kaine's characterization of McCain's ads compared to Obama's was wrong.
"I would make the argument that part of the reason why Senator Obama is in the shape he is in today is because he's failed to run a positive campaign," said Rove. "He's run a negative campaign. He's claimed to be something new and different, and yet given these - you know, it is really beyond the pale to sit there and insinuate that Senator McCain is somehow going to attack him for being black, which is what he did for over a month."
Read the full "Face the Nation" transcript here.
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See all 288 CommentsKarl Rove is a despicable hack and the soul of the Republican party.
This is a perfect example of the extremism that exists in media politics today. Of course the right is going to interpret the closeness in the polls to be a direct link to the public''s concern for Obama...BUT, who is to say that it doesn''t represent the public''s concern for McCain?! These people are ridiculous...and I mean both sides at times...but this time around it seems the Republicans are the more ridiculous ones, oh wait...last time they were too. Don''t even get me started on our current president. If you ask me, either candidate for the 2008 election is better than what we have now.
So was Bush!
Back to reality. When is Rove going to demand that McCain confess the secret "SOURCE" who led McCain to make the false claim in 2001 that the IRAQI''s had attacked the USA with ANTHRAX?
That was ROVE''s idea, you know. USA take over the middle east, using IRAQ as the lynch pin. Didnt think it through, did he?
Therefore, he has no place making judgements about other people''s choices. Rove has been proved to be evil, and only interested in winning elections and caused the deaths of 105,000 people in IRAQ, including the USA and our British Commonwealth allies.
Who is the McCain source? I believe it was the White House.
Ask McCain to clear this up. Demand he come clean before accepting the nomination. He is complicit in leading the US to war on false pretexts.
McCain went on Letterman and said he has a SOURCE with proof that the anthrax attacks were by IRAQI''s. Now we know it was by Americans. McCain lied to get us into a war against a country which did not attack us with WMDs. He was shilling for the White House, for Rove. Ask McCain to clear this up. Who was his "source" that it was the IRAQi''s?
I''m interested in good judgement and there are a number of democratic candidates who possess that.
Carl Rove needs to take a hard look back at the last eight years.
Must be alarming for Rove to see that the American electorate is no longer falling for his techniques of discrediting the opposition, rather than building up your own candidate. It worked with Bush; it''s not working now.
Karl: keep it up. Your reputation dwindles every time you open your mouth.
1. many people are ill-informed and ''believe that Obama is a Muslim.
2. many people are racists.
3. FOX tv refers to the Senator Obama as Osama to confuse the rubes.
4. People dont yet realize that McCain was part of the lies that lead us into the war against Iraq, based on WMDs. He was not a maverick on the war.
He was a propagandist, on Letterman. We have two months to show the USA what McCain did, in reality. The debates will be useful.
Nothing we can do about the 27% fundamentalists that "believe'' in the tooth fairy.
Just like every other president has done?
Just like Bush, having Cheney change his state of record before the election so he could deliver another%u2019s states electoral votes?
So what you are really telling me is he took a page out of your playbook... But it''s OK if a GOP man does it, not a DEM??
What a self effacing hypocrite!
Keep it up, Karl. Every time you open your mouth, you lose more credibility.
You are Barack Obama''s not-so-secret weapon and you''re doing a fantastic job!
Posted by LARYSINCLAIR
Another talking point that will gain as much traction as the talking point you are named after.
Should Obscamma really scam his way into the nomination, I suspect all hell will break loose when they really open up about who Obscamma really is.
I thought CBS did news.....
transcript 157.03-0.1 dated 8/8/8
... update released 8/9/8 @ 5:37pm EST
Secret sources have clarified Senator McCain''s "CODE WORDS" have been released to let others know of the pending VP announcement.
..."McCain said Huckabee "has earned a very large role in the future of the Republican Party."
Secret sources have indicatd that Senator McCain decided to make a offer to his preferred VP candidate on the same day of the Olympics grand opening. It is a symbolic gesture to his running mate and for the history books.
On 8/8/8 Senator McCain flew to Little Rock, Arkansas to meet with Mike Huckabee to offer him the VP position.
It was said Governor Huckabee accepted the Vice President offer from Senator McCain.
News reports are indicating Huckabee was selected because he met Senator McCain''s top 3 priorities:
1. A conservative.
2. A nationally recognized politician.
3. A superb speaker like Ronald Reagan.
It was said the presidential debates have the greatest influence on the presidential election. Sources are saying only Huckabee had the polished speaking skills to persuade the American people on national TV.
The official announcement will be made to the public the day after the DNC convention to slow the momentum of Senator Obama and increase the momentum of the Republican National Convention starting immediately after the DNC convention.
end transcript 157.03 dated 8/8/8
http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/07/21/1/an-hour-with-us-senator-jim-webb
Two weeks ago, he publicly disagreed with his own spokeswoman, Jill Hazelbaker, after she used a line of attack against Senator Barack Obama that he had approved after careful strategizing within his campaign. Ms. Hazelbaker raced out of the Virginia campaign headquarters and refused to take Mr. McCain%u2019s calls of apology, aides said, and a plan to have Republican members of Congress use the same critical line about Mr. Obama%u2019s foreign trip fell apart.
While I lack the disdain for McCain that I do for Mr. Rove, I also predict his choice will be "political", without the hyperbole- ummm, this is about" elections" , right?
Posted by samgunn at 02:05 PM : Aug 10, 2008
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Sam - For all his experience, McCain doesn''''t get anything DONE!
A simple thomas.gov search tells me:
Obama has sponsored or cosponsored 570 bills in three years (more than McCain in the same timeframe); he has directly introduced 15 bills that have become law (more than McCain); he has introduced amendments to 50 bills, of which 16 were adopted by the Senate (more than McCain). Most of the bills he sponsored were in: energy efficiency (25 bills), health care (21 bills), public health (20 bills), consumer protection (14 bills), Veterans bills (13 bills) and ethics bills (12 bills). He hasn''''t set any kind of record, but his record IS above the average for a freshman Senator. On a related point, let''''s note that Obama has voted on more than half of all bills this year vs McCain who has missed every vote since April
Be it work ethic or old age, whatever. The Jr Senator from Illinois runs rings around the old-timer from Arizona. We need RESULTS now and Obama DELIVERS them.
He''s still just slinging dirt--trying to pre-emptively take out any popular governor on the ticket--and, just in case, flaunting the race card again. What a sad example he is of 21st century politicking--and an equally sad example of CBS News'' judgment.
Get someone to explain the candidates'' energy plans, economic programs, healthcare reforms, views on the war, etc. Not this kind of cheap horserace jabbering. The only place Rove should get to sling this kind of mud is in his backyard sandbox.
Rove had better hope and pray that Bush grants him a pardon before 1/20/2009. If not, then Obama will waive any executive privilige and Rove will take that hard long walk down the media lane in handcuffs.
Old Karl is chuckling in his chair because he has to do nothing but sit back and watch the scams of The ONE, and the DNC implode!
If Obscamma does scam his way into the nomination, then the real Obscamma will be revealed along with his screeching wife.
Serious doubts placed there by Sen. Clinton`s negative campaign! The Republicans wisely ended their Primaries early and didn`t destroy each other in the process feeding the Democratic database. In her effort to win at any price and any cost, Sen. Clinton did serious, but not `fatal` damage to Sen. Obama and in the process ran up over $25 million in campaign debts by not knowing when to quit and now wants Sen. Obama to bail her out!
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