It looks like Karl Rove has taken the deep pocket funders of American Crossroads SuperPAC and its spin-off, Crossroads GPS, to the cleaners.
These wealthy, high-powered conservatives don't fool around when it comes to money. If they invest in something, they expect a significant return on investment. Combined, the two organizations have spent $160 million this cycle (to-date).
So what did all these rich white guys get for their money?
Not much. Democrats appear to be on the verge of retaining control of the White House and the Senate while making inroads on the GOP majority in the House.
ROI? Damn close to zero.
So how much did Karl Rove pocket while delivering a return of near zero?
That must be a question on the minds of the big-time, big-money mucky-mucks who backed Rove and his crew of buttoned-down grifters.
You can bet that Rove and company made sure that a good chunk of the money they were spending in their failed attempts to take down Democratic candidates went...
Where?
Back into their pockets, of course!
While American Crossroads spent these enormous sums attacking Democrats so far this cycle (and these are just the top targets):
Barack Obama $75,761,222 (plus $4,783,945 supporting Mitt Romney)
Bill Nelson $4,022,607
Tammy Baldwin $1,345,315 (plus $1,345,199 supporting Tommy Thompson)
Jon Tester $1,784,922
And Crossroads GPS spent these enormous sums attacking Democrats so far this cycle (again, just the top targets):
Barack Obama $12,513,651 (plus $6,296,668 supporting Mitt Romney)
Tim Kaine $10,158,067
Sherrod Brown $6,363,612
Shelley Berkley $5,554,114
Tammy Baldwin $4,717,105
Joe Donnelly $3,327,339
Jon Tester $ 3,261,728
Heidi Heitkamp $1,524,509 (plus $280,267 supporting Rick Berg)
... you can see (scroll down the linked pages, above) that huge amounts of those funds went toward media placement by Crossroads Media LLC. Placing media (buying the air time) is where the real money is because the entity placing the media typically gets a handsome commission. So no doubt while Karl was collecting a steep "consulting" fee, his pals at Crossroads Media LLC were raking in huge bucks in placement fees and commissions.
Do you think Karl collected anything from the back end of these deals?
And what did all this money buy?
Barack Obama poised for victory.
Bill Nelson poised for victory.
Sherrod Brown poised for victory.
Martin Heinrich poised for victory.
Elizabeth Warren poised for victory.
Chris Murphy poised for victory.
Claire McCaskill poised for victory.
Tim Kaine, Tammy Baldwin, and Jon Tester are all neck-and-neck and Rove's promise to return control of the Senate to Republicans is up in smoke with the odds of Democrats retaining control of the upper chamber at 91%.
But what is Karl telling his backers, at least publicly, just today?
Rove: Polling Data, Early Voting Point to Romney Victory
Right.
So, Karl, how much have you skimmed off the top from your deep pocket "pals" this cycle? And what have they got to show for all that cash they dumped into your coffers? What have you delivered that you promised to deliver?
Karl, where's the ROI?
I think it's time some folks in the media started delving into these questions. And if I were one of the wealthy plutocrats who dropped millions into the coffers of American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, I sure as hell would demand an accounting of where my money was spent and who made what on that mountain of cash.
My guess is that Karl made out like a bandit.