Rove attacks candidate for being arrogant and lazy, buries the needle on irony meter

April 3, 2008

Karl Rove sat down with GQ for a surprisingly interesting interview, published online this week, in which the former White House aide makes it pretty clear that he has a grudging respect for Hillary Clinton, whom he holds in relatively high regard, and seems rather disgusted with Barack Obama.

At one point during the lengthy discussion, Rove explained why he rejects the notion that Republicans will support Obama in fairly large numbers, and actually believes it’s McCain who can win over Dems.

Rove: There are Democrats, particularly blue-collar Democrats, who defect to McCain because they see McCain as a patriotic figure and they see Obama as an elitist who’s looking down his nose at ’em. Which he is. That comment where he said, you know, “After 9/11, I didn’t wear a flag lapel pin because true patriotism consists of speaking out on the issues, not wearing a flag lapel pin”? Well, to a lot of ordinary people, putting that flag lapel pin on is true patriotism. It’s a statement of their patriotic love of the country. And for him to sit there and dismiss it as he did–

GQ: You’re not wearing a flag pin, Karl.

Rove: Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. But I respect those who consciously get up in the morning and put a flag lapel pin on.

GQ: Do you see the elitist thing in other ways?

Rove: Obama is coolly detached and very arrogant. I think he’s very smart and knows he’s smart, but as a result doesn’t do his homework.

First, Rove is misquoting Obama; he never said “true patriotism consists of speaking out on the issues.” Second, the right-wing interest in flag lapel pins just isn’t healthy, and ends up backfiring when people realize that the same conservatives whining about lapel pins don’t wear them — and neither does their presidential candidate.

And third, to hear Karl Rove, after more than a decade of service to George W. Bush, accuse anyone of being “arrogant” and unwilling to “do his homework” is so spectacularly amusing, I’m almost amazed he’s too far gone to appreciate the irony.

But Rove’s praise for Hillary Clinton is almost jarring. He seems to detest Obama, which apparently leads him to respect Clinton even more.

At different points in the interview, Rove praised Clinton for:

* the original “3 a.m.” ad, which he called “gutsy”

* hiring Mark Penn, whom Rove twice described as “a very smart guy”

* her recent strategy of raising the specter of picking Obama as her running mate

* and, compared to Obama, her record of having been “around public life a lot longer and has demonstrated, you know, more involvement than he has.”

Now, when it comes to Rove, it’s easy to dip into over-analysis. Is he praising Clinton because he likes or he fears her? Is he trashing Obama because he’s trying to undermine him, or is this some elaborate plot to help him get the nomination because Rove thinks he’d be easy to beat?

Frankly, I tend to find this kind of tea-leaf reading a little tiresome, in large part because a) Rove’s strategies are rarely sophisticated; b) Rove isn’t nearly as clever as he thinks he is; and c) Rove, more often than not, is wrong.

Nevertheless, it’s an awfully interesting interview. It’s worth taking a look.

I don’t actually think Rove’s too far gone to appreciate the irony. I think he enjoys the hell out of making statements like this.

  • I’m sure B’rer Rove is speaking his true feelings here. Nothing disingenuous about that sack of shit.

  • Rove’s or Bush’s decision to spend time in places like California just before the 2000 election almost cost Bush the election. The fact that Gore was stupid in Florida and Bush was lucky doesn’t make Rove a genius.

    I don’t know who was responsible for pissing off Jeffords and having him switch parties and give the Senate to the Democrats. Whoever did it was pretty stupid.

    Rove did win in 2004. Good for him.

    Rove was convinced he had “THE numbers” in 2006. OK the Dems got lucky in Montana and Virginia but the other 4 seats weren’t luck. Sure, a few of the house seats were luck but Rove was dead wrong about the House in 2006

  • Rove is doing what Rove does well — pissing into the well with Repub talking points. Look for them as a staple of right-wing-nuttery for the next 8 or so years.

  • Rove: Obama is coolly detached and very arrogant. I think he’s very smart and knows he’s smart, but as a result doesn’t do his homework.

    Scarborough: I’ve got a feeling he didn’t go bowling in Cambridge that much. That’s a guy that’s been studying a lot of — reading a lot of books.

    A perp and a prick agree to disagree.
    I’ll leave it for someone else to add a quote from a “punk” to complete the trifecta.

  • Rove’s argument that Obama “doesn’t do his homework” is laying the groundwork for exploiting the stereotype of the lazy black man. Expect more of this subtle racial typing from the GOP — would you expect anything less?

  • ROTFL, how about this?

    Matthews: “Does Obama ‘connect with regular people’ or just African-Americans and college grads?” or “This gets very ethnic, but the fact that he’s good at basketball doesn’t surprise anybody”

  • Rove is pointing out something that we do need to pay attention to, that the Dem candidates are always very good on the issues but many Americans feel stupid when they try to figure out what’s really going on and what needs to be done about it. They would like some simple answers, and by golly here comes Rove and his friends to give them. Those Democrats? You can’t understand them because they’re just talking down at you, so it’s OK to hate them even if they’re smart and won’t fuck everything up like we do.

    I sure hope America is smart enough to realize what a disaster Rove and his friends have made with their “simple answers”. One thing’s for sure, the media doesn’t.

  • “And third, to hear Karl Rove, after more than a decade of service to George W. Bush, accuse anyone of being “arrogant” and unwilling to “do his homework” is so spectacularly amusing, I’m almost amazed he’s too far gone to appreciate the irony.”

    Particularly the homework he did on THE math that assured him the Republicans would win big in the 2004 elections.

  • …to a lot of ordinary people, putting that flag lapel pin on is true patriotism.

    The devil can speak the truth to suit his purposes.

  • if you want a refresher course in rovian arrogance read the transcript from the NPR interview with him in november of 06:

    http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Rove_dukes_it_out_with_NPR_1025.html

    my guess is he was served a nice portion of crow au vin after the election.

    i haven’t read the entire interview, but based on the snippets above rove isn’t doing a very good job of hiding the fact that he’s scared shitless about mccain going up against obama — pretty obvious who he’d like the 527s to target in the fall.

  • …to a lot of ordinary people, putting that flag lapel pin on is true patriotism.

    Unfortunately, that’s true….and all that’s required!

  • Rove spent seven years digging dirt on the Clinton administration in anticipation of Clinton’s run for the WH. He’s ticked that all that work is going down the drain along with his big fat oppo research fees.

  • a) Rove’s strategies are rarely sophisticated; b) Rove isn’t nearly as clever as he thinks he is; and c) Rove, more often than not, is wrong.

    You forgot “d) Rove is lying about something virtually every time he opens his mouth.”

    For the most recent example, see the part in the interview where he claims he’s a policy wonk who cares little for politics.

  • When I read the last line,

    DAF68: I think it is a little blantant than you perceive.

    “Rove: Obama is coolly detached and very arrogant. I think he’s very smart and knows he’s smart, but as a result doesn’t do his homework.”

    A mental Mississippi Babel Fish translation:

    “That Obama is one of those uppity n******.”

    How many racist thinkers will hear the same thing?

    Jon

  • They would like some simple answers… -Racer X

    I think Obama offers them the same thing, though. He doesn’t fall victim to the Kerry/Gore trap of droning on in his speeches about details. Of course the willfully ignorant Hillbots used that to attack him saying he had no substance, but those who want it know where to find it.

    Those who don’t want it get the concise answer they are looking for in his stump speech.

  • Hillary was never my choice as I do not believe you can tell the rest of the world that in a nation of 300 million people, only two families can make it through our political process to the White House. Having Rove the egotistical maniac who’s reputation as a liar is unmatched endorse her makes me feel even better about the decision.

  • The republicans have accused Obama of being black and America yawned. They have accused him of being a radical Muslim with the same result. They have accused him of being a radical black man and once again America yawned. Now they want to go down the arrogant, elitist road that worked against Kerry. The problem is that Obama connects with almost everyone who hears him speak. All those years going to church must have helped to teach him to deliver his message in sound bites that people can understand. All I can say is good luck with that Karl.

  • Unlike Gore and Kerry, Obama is capable of saying something smart without conveying an impression that he regards you as inferior. Maybe it his extremely charming smile. It’s that simple .. he doesn’t put anybody down. He’s like a really good professor who gives you the feeling that he’s on your side rather than being judgmental. He’s sharing his abilities with ou rather than parading them for you to admire. Rove wouldn’t understand that.

  • So, according to Rove, Obama “Doesn’t do his homework”. Maybe Rove just isn’t used to seeing someone doing their own homework, since he was the kid always passing answers to his ‘study’ buddy Dubya.

  • “Frankly, I tend to find this kind of tea-leaf reading a little tiresome, in large part because a) Rove’s strategies are rarely sophisticated; b) Rove isn’t nearly as clever as he thinks he is; and c) Rove, more often than not, is wrong.”

    Thank you, thank you, thank you! Very few people seem to notice this.

  • Rove fails to understand the difference between confidence and arrogance.

    Confidence enables a person to stand in front of crowd and articulate a position using complete sentences and pronouncing words correctly.

    Arrogance is standing in front of a crowd, saying things, sometimes incorrectly and thinking you articulated a position but really said nothing.

    Rove is confused.

  • the former White House aide makes it pretty clear that he has a grudging respect for Hillary Clinton, whom he holds in relatively high regard, and seems rather disgusted with Barack Obama.

    The fact that Rove admits this in public means that he’s scared of Obama and hoping beyond hope for Clinton. This is, after all, Karl Rove we’re talking about here. Up is down with him.

  • I’m shocked, SHOCKED (!), to hear Rove expressing admiration for Mark Penn. Whatever could they have in common?

  • Will is quite right; Rove and the Repubs hope against hope that something miraculous will happen, perhaps a cut-up body will be discovered in Obama’s freezer or something, and Hillary will somehow grab the brass ring. They’re ready with the Hillary-Suppression tactics, but they don’t really have very much they can use against Obama except that he’s somewhat bookish and “too smart”. Yes, that certainly is undesirable in a U.S. presidential candidate. And arrogant? WTF? Bush isn’t arrogant? Take another memory-lane look at him swaggering across the flight deck of the ABRAHAM LINCOLN as if somebody had just screwed a 10-inch dick onto him. What about Cheney’s “so what” reply to the suggestion that the people don’t support extension of the Iraq war? that isn’t arrogant?

  • What is it with this guy? The weird contortion about “respecting” people who wear the flag pin, even though he himself does not, is almost exactly his answer to whether he is a “person of faith.” I mean, it’s just flat-out dumb. As far as the pin goes, wear it if you’re going to make it a line of attack; as far as religion goes, just lie. It’s not that complex.

  • palmbeachmaven said: Rove spent seven years digging dirt on the Clinton administration in anticipation of Clinton’s run for the WH. He’s ticked that all that work is going down the drain along with his big fat oppo research fees.

    Dead on. Nothing Rove says gets said without an ulterior motive. Nothing.

  • Like a turd in a toilet, Rove keeps popping up. Whether selling books or selling us Bush, Reagan or whomever, the scum level is so thick he’s marginal. As long as you can see him, he’s not a threat. It’s when he dives into the bushes and hides that we really have to start looking for the dangerous lies. The Swift Boating must be just around the corner.

  • Rove has a lot of nerve accusing Obama of failing to do his homework.

    Rove went to some merely average state university – Utah? – for a year or two, then dropped out. Perhaps because he didn’t do his homework.

    Obama obtained an undergraduate degree from an Ivy League school, Columbia, then gained admission to the very prestigious Harvard Law School, where he distinguished himself. He became the main editor of the Harvard Law Review. Can a student rise to that very high level without doing his homework? Probably not, even if he were a genius.

    Rove’s star client, Shrub, was a legacy admission to Yale. While at Yale, he got a lot of Cs. Either he didn’t do his homework or he wasn’t especially smart. Or both.

    (IIRC, Shrub applied for admission to the University of Texas Law School – a good law school, yes, but not nearly as highly regarded and selective as Harvard – but failed to get in.)

    These days, when Obama speaks in public, he almost always seems completely prepared. Bush, on the other hand, …

  • I’m sure Hillary is damning Rove for these statements just as much as Obama is thanking him. Getting the Rove Seal of Disapproval is about as much praise as being denounced by Jerry Falwell used to be. If we can just get Bush and Cheney out on the campaign trail praising Hillary, everything should be complete.

    What’s sad is that I’m sure there are quite a few members of the media who still take these boobs seriously.

  • Obama has a principled reason for not wearing the pin.

    Rove et al don’t wear the pin either because they’re too lazy, or they don’t want to tear a hole in the lapel of their expensive Italian suits.

    That makes Rove a patriot, and Obama a traitor.

  • I think that people would do anything for Obama not to be president. I hope that Obama would be the bigger person and not respond and not let it get to him.

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