Karl Rove has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to elect Republicans to the presidency, the House and the Senate this year.
This is what he does for a living – and, believe me, he makes a very good living.
But he made it very clear none of that money, raised from Republican donors from around the country, would go to support Rep. Todd Akin's bid to unseat Missouri's Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.
Why?
Rove gave several reasons:
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- Akin couldn't win, he explained, after making an off-hand comment about "legitimate rape" several months ago.
- He suggested if Republicans supported Akin, these comments, blown out of proportion by a media that doesn't want to see Republicans win any seats, would hurt the entire Republican national effort to win more seats in the House, take control of the Senate and win the presidency.
It's worth noting, again, because Rove's own offensive and highly inappropriate remarks in which he joked about wanting to kill Akin quickly blew over, that the self-proclaimed "architect" of previous winning Republican campaigns in 2000 and 2004 never liked Akin, having supported his opponent in the primary won by Akin.
But there have been developments in the last two weeks that reveal Rove's excuses for sitting out an important Senate race in a strategic state are just that – lame rationalizations for doing what he wants to do.
Akin has surged ahead in the polls over McCaskill, with the help of Republicans who don't have Rove's financial resources. They include Sen. Jim DeMint, Sen. Rand Paul, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and many others. They understand that every Senate seat must be contested – none must be conceded to Obama acolytes like McCaskill.
Now it should be clear to everyone that Akin isn't the problem with the Republican Party this year. The problem is with Karl Rove – an ideological weenie who has no problem supporting left-wing Republicans who support same-sex marriage and other radical ideas, but can't bring himself to support a solidly pro-life conservative in Missouri.
I support Todd Akin.
Let this be the last campaign Rove is ever involved in if he is going to pick and choose unwisely between the Republicans he funds with the hundreds of millions he collects from GOP donors.
And it's time for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to step in to Missouri and campaign for victory there for their own ticket as well as for Todd Akin. Their political fates are inextricably tied. If Akin does well in Missouri, so will the Romney-Ryan ticket. If the Romney-Ryan-ticket does well in Missouri, so will Akin.
It's time for the Republican establishment to get over their petty issues with Akin and push for total victory. The people of Missouri see through the media's effort at the character assassination of Todd Akin. Do they really prefer Claire McCaskill over Todd Akin? If so, I have to question whether there is much difference between Karl Rove and Claire McCaskill. Every Republican donor should think about that before contributing to his Crossroads PAC.
Is this really about beating the Democrats? Or is this about Karl Rove's own ego and power trip?
That means Karl Rove needs to get over his pride and arrogance and make amends.
That means Romney and Ryan need to recognize that victory is within Akin's grasp – and how important that Senate seat is.
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