Most readers of this blog don’t want to hear it, but Karl Rove has a point: Tea Party nominees for the last three cycles have put Democrats in charge of the US Senate, and those of us who nominated them deserve the blame. To be sure, the establishment has supported more than its fair share of failures, but that’s for another discussion.
Let’s review. Over the last two cycles, we’ve had a candidate who ran an ad proclaiming “I am not a witch”, another who got angry with the media for covering his ethics violations, a candidate from a science committee making patently false statements about rape, another who implied that rape was “God’s will”, a paranoid schizophrenic who wouldn’t speak with the media in the weeks running up to her election, and one who gave away a seat by using an ethnic slur on the campaign trail. Their losses are the reasons that Sens. Coons, Begich, McCaskill, Donnelly, Reid and Kaine are currently in office. That’s not a great track record. We can’t do this to ourselves anymore.
The whole reason that people have reacted so angrily to Rove’s announcement is that they no longer view electing just anybody with an “R” next to his name as a victory. They’re right. It’s not.
Nor is it a victory, however, to nominate people who actually believe in constitutional restrictions on government, fiscal responsibility, and reigning in the courts only to have them lose to Democrats. A warm body who checks all the right boxes just doesn’t cut it anymore. Candidates who cannot ably explain and advocate their principles do more harm than good. In that sense, Karl Rove’s stated goal is a good one. It is absolutely critical that every Republican nominated to what should be a competitive race is not someone who will throw it away by saying something stupid. Doing so harms us not only in that election but in others around the country and in general public perception.
That having been said, I have no doubt that Rove intends to use his organization to support candidates who are part of the problem. Stop whining about it and learn from it. The quality of Tea Party candidates has to improve – considerably – plain and simple. Most of those in the Leadership – and I use that in the loosest possible sense of the word – have been in Washington too long and consider Tea Party activists, as well as conservatives and libertarians more generally, backwater rubes who exist for the sole purpose of returning them to Washington and forking over half of their paychecks. Based on the above, can you really blame them?
If you’re really worried about what Rove is doing, then I would suggest you step up to the plate and either run yourself or do a better job of vetting potential candidates in your state. Work with your local organizations to find people who understand and can articulate your principles. Get in touch with the Leadership Institute and the SBA List and make sure that your candidates go through their campaign schools before getting your support. If a Tea Party candidate who can’t intelligently explain his positions emerges, find another one. If there are ethical issues, make it abundantly clear that just won’t cut it.
“Electability” has become a dirty word among activists because career strategists and politicians have often used it to push candidates who won’t rock the boat. While that is an understandable reaction, it doesn’t change the reality that a candidate is useless if he doesn’t win. If the right is to get anywhere legislatively, then it’s time to stop acting like a bunch of McGovern-supporting hippies and start acting like principled versions of Karl Rove.
The D.C. Clothesline 
Being a libriatarian I never vote streight ballot, the point being, no one ever gets it right. Rove has this thing of being inconsistent, he like others is a politician. I do plan running locally. Lets see what happens. It seems that the goverenment is set up to do its own thing the people that are in power wer put there for a reason. It’s a set up.
If the RNC had not allowed the democrats to infiltrate after Reagan won, we wouldn’t have this problem. Now there is virtually no difference between the DNC and the RNC. The Tea Partiers were sick and tired of liberal RINO’s getting elected.
Martin I think you’re partially correct. The Democrats HAVE infiltrated and INFESTED the Republican party. I truly believe that there are more conservatives in the Republican party than there are RINOs or “establishment republicans.”
I think that Karl Rove is very smart, however I also think that his priority is to win; the quality of the candidate is secondary. Meaning that the priorities are 1- Can they win? 2- How much money can they raise? 3- Would they do a good job in the office they’re looking to be elected to?
The sad fact that Karl Rove leaves out of his statement is the real history of what happened. The people that were running against the Tea Party’s candidates were even worse. The voting population that primarily votes a Republican ticket is sick and tired of Republicans that do not have the fortitude to stand up to the Democrats and Republican elites (cough, cough John Boehner). The candidates that ran as Tea Party Candidates may have not been perfect candidates, but when compared to the Republicans they beat in the primaries, they were a far cry better. Remember that MOST of the BAD LEGISLATION over the past century passed with “some” Republican votes. When Democrats lose elections, they go on the attack. When Republicans don’t win they cave. This is the problem. What happened to voting on principle?
I must disagree. Yes, a couple of the tea party candidates screwed up but we also have some very good ones and there were others that if the establishment had not fought so hard to keep them out would have built a very strong conservative base.
Then on the other hand did they really screw up. Others did things just as bad or worse and were protected by the RNC and the Rove elitist crowd. The RNC WANTED those people to fail so when they made a mistake they magnified it.
That’s the problem. It’s all about the Rove’s staying in power and they are willing to do whatever is necessary to accomplish that. No matter what it costs us or the Country.
Even a broken clock is right twice-a-day.
Because someone else is “wrong” on something doesn’t make someone else “right” on it.
That said, true conservatives need to rise to the surface. We’ve seen quality men and women elected to office in smaller numbers than expected after 2010. That’s to be expected. This isn’t an armed coup. The Libs took 50 years. Conservatives have been asleep. Transformation takes concerted effort over time. Keep up the effort.