Karl Rove, affectionately nicknamed Turd Blossom by Bush 43 (there actually is a flower that grows from cow “flops”) isn’t the political “Guru” some thought he was. However, he’s been correct an awful lot of the time and knows conservatives and what they can or can’t sell to voters. When it comes to the coming year he’s offered a stark warning to Trump. A big chunk of coal in the Christmas Stocking. Not ‘Beautiful “CLEAN” Coal’ but real, nasty coal covered in the grime that sticks to your skin.
Yep, Rove thinks Trump is headed for a nasty outcome when November rolls around. One could say he’s in effect telling Trump the lump of coal in the stocking THIS year is going to be a whole Mar A Lago ballroom full of it a year from now. That’s my takeaway from Newsweek’s article discussing an OpEd Rove penned for the WSJ:
In a Wednesday op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, the Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush cited surveys showing declines in the president’s approval ratings on the economy, and said his “rallies and online ranting” were fated to alienate more and more Americans ahead of next year’s elections.
“It’s the season of jingle bells and sleigh bells for most of us, but for the White House, alarm bells should be clanging,” wrote Rove. “The administration is making mistakes that could result in a nasty 2026 midterm defeat for President Trump’s party.”
I rather liked that part about jingle bells Trumpty and his enablers seem to be hearing when the real sound that those who haven’t drunk too much toxic orange Kool Aid are hearing alarm bells. Rove knows polling and how those numbers translate into election results. He’s cleared-eyed and looks at Trump’s approval ratings reported by multiple credible outlets and sees disaster lurking for both Trump and the GOP in general. As a hard-core conservative, albeit one who’s more old school this is difficult. Kind of like trying to avoid an avalanche without even snowshoes, much less skis.
The article notes other experts and their views on what needs to change (including Trump) for the GOP to have a chance in the midterms. Also included is what Trump’s doing and seems likely to continue doing – instead of adjusting. Rove himself has some pretty blunt thoughts on this:
“With his approval numbers, Mr. Trump should be focused on building Americans’ trust in his administration,” wrote Rove. “But the fun of bouncing from topic to topic and joke to joke in a rally is too much for him to resist.”
As a result, Rove believes Trump is making the same mistake as his predecessor, Joe Biden, and telling voters “not to believe their own lying checkbooks.”
That last line is something many a pundit has been saying about Trump’s exhortations to voters for a while now. However, Trump is underwater and in some cases WAY underwater on every issue voters care about. Even MAGA support has dropped lately! Clearly voters aren’t ‘buying’ the bullshit Trump is ‘selling’ and now the WH plan is to inject him into the midterms? Some primary filing deadlines have already passed but most are coming up after the first of the year. Significantly more Republicans have already decided to call it quits, and I’m betting the prospect of Trump out there making the midterms a referendum on HIM will cause a big tidal wave of GOPers citing “I want to spend more time with family” or ‘pursue other opportunities’ in their retirement announcements.
Newsweek offers brief assessments from several people including one of one of Karoline Leavitt’s underlings. Since I started with Rove, I’ll close with his summary that’s part of the cluster I just mentioned:
“It doesn’t look good for the GOP next year. The White House is on the wrong track. It had better get its messaging right—both its formal attempts at directing the conversation and Mr. Trump’s spontaneous social-media rants. Or else the president won’t like the outcome. A furious party in revolt against its executive, who is plagued by Democratic investigations and opposition. Time’s a-wasting.”
Yes it is, and Trump seems more concerned with blinging out the White House and his stupid ballroom and Arch de Trump’ than what voters want, and more importantly NEED him to be concentrating on.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
On one of his previous rants, he went on about the economy and other fairy tales. Then, he pivoted to the ballroom. Like anyone, outside of him, even cares about that. He really seems incapable of grasping any other viewpoint but his own.
They can do all the ‘messaging’ they like.
It’s not the message or the marketing, it’s what they’re selling is unsellable.
Higher prices, higher interest rates on loans, less democracy, more fascism, less freedom, more wasteful spending, less useful government, less useful regulation of runaway business, more dis-honesty and corruption, while the richest get richer and everyone else gets less?
How can the republican reality be less marketable?
Specially now no-one believes their carelessly crafted lies.
I’m an old fart now. Bona fide senior citizen. In my lifetime every time voters give conservatives a spanking, instead of going back to old-school conservative principles of lower taxes and regulation AND behind the scenes encouragement to corporate American to throw workers and consumers a big enough bone to have a shot at the American dream they do the wrong thing.
They decide the problem isn’t that the conservatism that developed during my lifetime hurts too many Americans and THAT’s why voters have spanked them. No, they talk themselves into a belief the problem is they weren’t conservative enough! If you’re as old as I am look back over things ever since Goldwater’s Presidential bid went down in flames. For all his considerable faults Nixon tried to take a lesson from that but the core of the conservative movement changed. With Reagan’s election (and all the damage that’s led to from him and successors) the joke as George Will put it was that Goldwater actually won in 64, but it took until Reagan to count the votes.
But I return to my point. Trump and his refusal to see reality and adapt to it, to recognize that it’s bad policy and worse politics to ONLY care about those who are in the top one percent instead insist on talking themselves into believing if on they were MORE conservative people would love them. Well, unless a lot changes they’re going to get another whack upside the head with a political two-by-four.