By building a war chest of unregulated campaign cash – an unprecedented $135 million to be raised by these three groups alone – Rove would be able to wage the midterm elections on his own terms: electing candidates loyal to the GOP's wealthiest donors and corporate patrons. With the media's attention diverted by the noisy revolt being waged by the Tea Party, the man known as "Bush's brain" was staging a stealthier but no less significant coup of the Republican Party.
"What they've cooked up is brilliant," says a prominent Democrat. "Evil, but brilliant."
—Tim Dickinson, Rove Rides Again (Rolling Stone)
Rove is outmaneuvering other Republicans and has serious cash to do it with. Citizens United ruling only helps him. Who knew, huh? The only explosive, surprise aspect of this for me is that we're not all reading it, dealing with it, and preparing for it.
Rolling Stone, not always a great magazine, nevertheless gives us a primer here on knowing our enemy.
Me, I'm a staunch progressive. I'm unimpressed by Obama, irritated by Rahm, and want my party to fight unapologetically (and without compromise) for progressive goals. A lot of the debate here right now is focused on this, and whether we're satisfied with Obama or not. It's an incredibly important topic.
But we can't ignore the Republicans while we clean house (...or don't). The only way to out-shout Rove's well-funded campaign groups is to expose them before their messages get around. Or hasn't the message... well, gotten around?