During a discussion at the LBJ Library in Austin yesterday, Karl Rove lamented the lack of editorial integrity amongst the news media today. “Where is Walter Cronkite?” he asked rhetorically.
Rove was at the LBJ Patman Center for Political Engagement (LBJ School of Public Affairs), following an appearance last weekend at the Texas Tribune Festival. His remarks ranged widely over the current election.
Speaking of Biden and DT, he said “These are the two most unpopular presidential candidates ever put forward by the two major political parties, since we began polling favourables and unfavourables in 1936. Two-thirds of the American people didn’t want this race: one guy is 78 the other is 81. Is this the best we can do as a country? It struck me last year that whatever party woke up and said ‘we need to make a change’ would have the upper hand.”
Rove joked about his appearance at his fifth Democratic Convention, which recently concluded. “It’s sort of like Satan shows up at the First Baptist Church!” He then gave a scream of terror that amused the audience. At the Convention, he noticed “a palpable sense of relief” that Biden was no longer the nominee. “I’ve never seen so many American flags at a Democratic convention in my life. This was authentic: the American Story. Did you ever think you’d see a high school football team introducing the Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee?”
Looking at the polls, Rove said the of the battleground states, DT is only ahead in only 2 states: Arizona and North Carolina, with Pennsylvania a tie. “That would mean she has 273 electoral votes, he has 246, with 19 up for grabs.” This is a scenario where VP Harris can get to 270, the winning figure, without Pennsylvania. “But it requires her to carry Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, you have inarguably the best Democratic party organization in the country.” This is despite Rove’s assessment that the Governor of Wisconsin has the “personality of drying paint on the walls. The Republican party there is now broken, and the Democratic party is running at pitch-perfect speed.”
Rove had an interesting take on Georgia for DT. “If he carries Georgia, one of the reasons why is Brian Kemp,” the Republican Governor who DT has been very ugly to. So ugly that Kemp’s wife has said she is not voting for DT! “In that highly polarized state, Kemp has a 61% approval rating. If DT wins, it will be because Kemp has created an environment in Georgia where people say ‘if Republicans know how to make our schools better, our communities safer, our economy more prosperous, then they care about people like me.’”
[Note: per editorial policy, this newspaper does not print the name for the former president, only his initials. The same policy applies to every convicted felon.]