Fox News Contributor Briefly Ran Groundswell's "Campaign To Discredit" Fox Analyst Rove

MATT GERTZ/Media Matters For America:

In his bombshell report on Groundswell, a coalition of prominent right-wing activists and journalists that gathers weekly "to concoct talking points" and "coordinate messaging," Mother JonesWashington Bureau Chief David Corn reveals that that group is engaged in a "two front war" against not only progressives, but Fox News political analyst and former Bush aide Karl Rove.

At one point, Corn details, that effort was led by Rove's colleague, Fox News contributor Sandy Rios.

Since the 2012 election, a civil war in the conservative movement has divided Rove and his allies from other right-wing elements who believe Rove is insufficiently ideological. Much of the debate has focused onThe Conservative Victory Project, a new group Rove is launching with the help of allies of Crossroads political groups to support Republican officeholders against Tea Party challengers. That effort has drawn harsh criticism from some of Rove's Fox News colleagues.

As Corn explains, that conservative civil war is in part driven by Groundswell, which in March "initiated an effort to crush Rove, who they believed had helped shape a post-election post-mortem by the Republican National Committee that called on the party to temper its message to appeal to a broader swath of voters." Notes for the group's March 20 meeting explain that Rove "must become toxic among the grass roots and among his base," and notes his vast influence in the conservative movement, including that "FOX has given Rove a platform and just renewed his contract," in spite of the fact that "Rove no more represents conservatives then Jessie [sic] Jackson or Al Sharpton represent all Blacks."

Notes for a February 20 Groundswell meeting indicate Rios was in charge of the working group devoted to an "Alternative to Rove." Notes for the group's March 6 meeting describe her as responsible for the "Karl Rove Project." According to Corn, "Weeks later, though, a Groundswell memo noted that the Conservative Action Project -- a coalition of more than 100 right-wing organizations that is chaired by former Attorney General Edwin Meese -- would be 'taking the lead' on the Rove Project." It is unclear whether that means that Rios and Groundswell were no longer directly engaged in an effort to undermine Rove.

Rios has previously repudiated Rove's Conservative Victory Project. During a February 4, 2013, appearance on American Family Radio, Rios said it was "frightening" that Rove is "going after really conservative candidates that they consider to be a little bit too conservative, out of the mainstream." Rios pointed to Rep. Steve King (R-IA) as an example of someone who is being unfairly targeted. She added that Rove "could not have been more wrong" about recent elections.

In May, Rios signed a letter opposing the bipartisan Senate proposal to reform immigration law that became the bill that passed in June. Immigration reform has been a key area of disagreement between Rove and more conservative elements of the party.

Fox News contributors Allen West and John Bolton are also reportedly Groundswell participants.

Fox News Gives Karl Rove’s Crossroads Groups Millions In Free Airtime

By Josh Israel/Think Progress

Though Karl Rove receives a salary from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for his work as a Fox News Channel “political contributor,” his compensation doesn’t end there. The network frequently airs ads by his American Crossroads and Crossroads GPSpolitical committees, as “news,” free of charge.

A ThinkProgress review of Fox News Channel broadcasts over the past twelve months revealed that Fox News programs ran all or a significant part of Crossroads ads at least 34 times — an estimated value of more than $3.6 million in free air time. Frequently, the network’s hosts run the ads during Rove’s segments and then allow him to explain and repeat their charges.

On Monday, for example, Fox News aired a significant chunk of a new American Crossroads ad attacking former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her handling of the attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Noting criticism the ad received from conservative columnist William Kristol, host Martha MacCullum asked Rove: “What say you?”

Watch the video:

According to TVEyes Media Monitoring Suite, a subscription-only search engine for TV broadcasts, a 30-second slot on America’s Newsroom program has a “national publicity value” of $79,445.92. But because the ad was shown during the programming, Rove and American Crossroads got 20-something seconds of the ad for free, rather than having to pay Fox News Channel or local cable companies for the air time. What’s more, he was then paid to promote his own advertisement.

ThinkProgress found eight other recent Fox News broadcasts featuring Crossroads commercials in TVEyes, with an estimated value of about $580,000 combined. A Nexis search of other Fox News transcripts found at least 25 other times when hosts showed significant clips of ads. Estimating the value of these slots based on an average of recent “national publicity values” for each suggests they were worth more than $3 mllion. It is worth noting that ratings for Fox News (and all news networks) have been lower in 2013 than in the 2012 election year, so the value of the pre-election ad plays would likely have been even higher.

The spots included:

Date	Program	Ad
5/16/2012	Special Report with Brett Baier	“Obama’s Promise” (Crossroads GPS)
5/16/2012	Hannity	“Obama’s Promise” (Crossroads GPS)
5/22/2012	Hannity	“Basketball” (Crossroads GPS)
5/26/2012	Journal Editorial Report	“Basketball” (Crossroads GPS)
7/11/2012	Hannity	“Obama’s War On Women” (American Crossroads)
7/13/2012	Hannity	“Obama’s War On Women” (American Crossroads)
7/13/2012	The O’Reilly Factor	“Obama’s War On Women” (American Crossroads)
7/25/2012	The O’Reilly Factor	“Replay” (American Crossroads)
7/25/2012	Hannity	“Replay” (American Crossroads)
7/31/2012	Hannity	“News” (Crossroads GPS)
8/17/2012	The Five	“Run, Joe. Run” (American Crossroads)
9/14/2012	Special Report with Brett Baier	“Skips” (American Crossroads)
10/1/2012	The Five	“World” (American Crossroads)
10/1/2012	On the Record with Greta van Susteren	“World” (American Crossroads)
10/1/2012	Hannity	“World” (American Crossroads)
10/18/2012	The Five	“Act of Terror” (American Crossroads)
10/18/2012	Hannity	“Act of Terror“
10/24/2012	The O’Reilly Factor	“At Stake” (American Crossroads)
10/24/2012	The Five	“At Stake” (American Crossroads)
10/24/2012	Hannity	“At Stake” (American Crossroads)
10/24/2012	On the Record with Greta van Susteren	“At Stake” (American Crossroads)
11/1/2012	Hannity	“At Stake” (American Crossroads)
2/7/2013	The O’Reilly Factor	“Ashley’s Story” (American Crossroads)
2/7/2013	The O’Reilly Factor (replay)	“Ashley’s Story” (American Crossroads)
2/22/2013	On the Record with Greta van Susteren	“Obama’s Mess” (Crossroads GPS)
2/22/2013	Special Report with Brett Baier	“Obama’s Mess” (Crossroads GPS)
3/13/2013	Hannity	“Appropriate” (American Crossroads)
3/13/2013	Happening Now	“Appropriate” (American Crossroads)
3/14/2013	Hannity (replay)	“Appropriate” (American Crossroads)
5/10/2013	Hannity	“Benghazi” (American Crossroads)
5/11/2013	Hannity (replay)	“Benghazi” (American Crossroads)
5/13/2013	The O’Reilly Factor (replay)	“Benghazi” (American Crossroads)
5/13/2013	America’s Newsroom	“Benghazi” (American Crossroads)
5/13/2013	The O’Reilly Factor	“Benghazi” (American Crossroads)

Karl Rove signed a contract extention in January, keeping him on the network through 2016.

Karl Rove's "Mediscare" Hypocrisy

REMINGTON SHEPARD/Media Matters For America

Karl Rove hypocritically referred to an ad highlighting how a recent House Republican budget would harm seniors who rely on Medicare as "Mediscare" demagoguery, ignoring his own PAC's misleading Medicare-based attack on a Democrat during the 2012 election cycle.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released ads on April 1 highlighting the ramifications of the fiscal year 2014 budgetproposed by Republican Rep. Paul Ryan (WI) and passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The ads accurately claim that the budget would cut Medicare and harm seniors.

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities recently found that the Ryan budget would "cut Medicare spending by $356 billion," as well as "shift substantial costs to Medicare beneficiaries," and could leave many 65 and 66 year olds without health insurance.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, however, Karl Rove dismissed this ad as "demagoguery" and "deeply dishonest":

The midterm election is still 19 months away, but for some it's never too early for demagoguery. And so this week the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a new "Mediscare" ad. The targets are 17 Republican congressmen who supported the House budget framework that includes Medicare reforms.

The ad has menacing music, doomsday predictions and a tagline that these GOP congressmen voted for "a radical vision for America" that guts Medicare. The spot is deceitful but still deserves a swift, powerful rebuttal. Even a deeply dishonest attack on Medicare, if unrefuted, can do damage.

In his critique of the "Mediscare" ad, Rove ignored his own political group's Medicare-based attack ad. American Crossroads ran a misleading ad during the 2012 election cycle attacking Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (FL) for supposedly harming seniors by voting for "massive cuts to Medicare" to the tune of $700 billion by voting for health care reform.

Contrary to the ad's claim, health care reform did not cut Medicare. As an August 2012 ABC News postexplained, the supposed "cuts" to Medicare was actually the slowing of Medicare's future growth by "getting rid of fraud and ending overpayments to private insurance companies." Gail Wilensky, a former administrator of the Medicare program under President George H. W. Bush, made clear in a June 2012 Bloomberg article that this growth control would not result in "reductions in the Medicare benefits promised in the law."

GOP Civil War: Conservative Activists Warn Crossroads Donors Away From New Rove Group

BEN DIMIERO/Media Matters For America:

Conservatives continue to wage war over the future of the Republican Party, with Media Research Center president Brent Bozell and several other activists penning a letter discouraging donors from giving money to Karl Rove's new political group.

Rove has been the focus of conservative anger for weeks following the announcement of Conservative Victory Project, a new group he is launching with the help of the allies behind his Crossroads political groups. According to the New York Times, the group will seek to "recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts."

The letter, flagged by TIME reporter Zeke Miller, is signed by Bozell, Tea Party Express chairman Amy Kremer, Citizens United president David Bossie, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, and a handful of other conservative activists who claim to represent "millions of grassroots conservatives."

Addressed to "Top Crossroads Donors," the letter rips Rove's Crossroads political groups for supporting moderate candidates and having "squandered hundreds of millions of dollars in what were arguably the most inept campaign advertising efforts ever."  

It continues:

Mr. Rove and his allies must stop blaming conservatives for his disastrous results. It is time for him to take ownership of his record. He must also stop posturing himself as a conservative: his record supporting wasteful government spending and moderate candidates over conservatives spans decades.

No matter how he positions himself in this attempt at damage control, Mr. Rove's efforts will not elect the type of leaders who will come to Washington to fight for conservative principles. In fact, they are likely to stifle the emergence of candidates like Marco Rubio, Pat Toomey, and Rand Paul. Further, the model that will be employed by the Conservative Victory Project has proven to be ineffective and a waste of political resources.

In recent weeks, Rove has been labeled by conservative media figures as (among other pejoratives) a "propagandist" and "a total loser." Conservatives have also branded his new group "absolutely repulsive," and "an incumbency protection racket." 

Last month, after a spokesman for one of Rove's Crossroads groups labeled Bozell a "hater" for his criticism of Republican leaders, Bozell's allies -- including several of the same people who signed the latest letter -- wrote a letter demanding the aide's firing. In the letter, the activists lauded Bozell for being the nephew of conservative luminaries like William F. Buckley and called him "a beloved and critically important player in American history."

Tea Party Patriots Call Rove Nazi, Put Out Call To Takeover GOP

By Nathaniel Downes/Addicting Info

The illusion of a coherent organization for the Republican Party has been dispelling as of late. The out-and-out Republican Civil War continues to escalate. Despite the warnings, both sides seem intent on victory being the only option. They don’t care what they have to lose in the process, victory is all that matters. Even the GOP’s leadership is resigned to a Tea Party split. But the problem is, the Tea Party is not splitting off into its own entity, they are aiming for nothing but an absolute takeover of the Republican Party itself.

In a pamphlet sent out by the Tea Party Patriots, Co-Founder and National Coordinator Jenny Beth Martin makes it clear the organizations intentions. Quoting from the pamphlet:

If we can raise this money we will be able to go toe-to-toe with the big spenders in both
political parties and stop the Obama agenda in its tracks.

 We’ll provide grants to local Tea Party groups so they can continue to recruit and grow.

We’ll train the next generation of Tea Party leaders to effectively deal with the hostile liberal media. And we will start more grassroots Tea Party groups all over America to take the fight directly to local offices of every single Representative and Senator in Congress.

And on top, a smiling picture of Karl Rove, wearing a Nazi officer uniform, captained with “Karl Rove believes he can raise hundreds of millions of dollars, crush the Tea Party movement and protect the big-government status quo in Washington from millions of freedom loving Americans.” The right-wing knee-jerk reaction, to label anyone they oppose as whatever the villain of the moment is. Right now, that is to label Mr. Rove as a Nazi, we can fully expect to see him decked out in a Keffiyeh and called a Muslim by the end of the month.

Other members of this push have put forth other parts of the proposal. Richard Viguerie has put together a website calling for a complete takeover of the Republican Party. He even has a form for people to propose their own plans on how to do it.

In answer to this push, the plan for how to “take over the Republican Party” is simple and incredibly effective: Don’t.

The fundamental issue is that the Tea Party never understood what the Republican Party was in the first place. In their attempt to make it over, they failed to grasp that the Republicans viewed them as nothing but exploitable idiots in the first place. Backed by Koch money, the same funding source as the John Birch Society, the Tea Party astroturf groups sprung up in 2009.

This is ultimately a fight between financial giants. The money behind the Republican leadership vs the money behind the Tea Party groups. Whatever else they may claim to be, ultimately it is just that, big money battling each other. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is reaping in a whirlwind of small donors, exploiting new avenues for fundraising thanks to strategies created by the incredibly successful campaign of Barack Obama. The GOP’s addiction to large money donors has isolated it from the real revolution in politics, the rise of the microdonor. No longer does a political candidate have to rely upon political action committees and private interest groups. Now individual donations, mostly under $200, can be raised easily, and directly.

The true irony in the attempt to make an astroturf movement is that the Republican Party missed out on the real revolution. Their artificial grassroots organization is now losing out to real grassroots entities. The rules have changed, and the big money backers of the Republican Party are fighting over the deck chair arrangement on the Titanic while the rest of the country sails off into the future.

GOP uniting against Karl Rove

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Karl Rove launches initiative to keep tea party candidates out of elections

By Eric W. Dolan/Raw Story

The organizers of American Crossroads hope to bring electoral victory to the Republican Party by defeating unelectable tea party candidates in GOP primary races. The new super PAC, called the Conservative Victory Project, will be run by American Crossroads president Steven Law and is supported by former Bush political adviser Karl Rove.

“There is a broad concern about having blown a significant number of races because the wrong candidates were selected,” Law told the New York Times on Saturday. “We don’t view ourselves as being in the incumbent protection business, but we want to pick the most conservative candidate who can win.”

The Victory Project plans to oppose candidates like Christine O’Donnell, Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock. Though running in places where Republicans were favored, the tea party-backed candidates lost the general election after defeating moderate Republicans in the primary. Many tea party candidates who were victorious in 2010, such as Allen West and Joe Walsh, also ended up being defeated by Democratic challengers in 2012.

Victory Project spokesman Jonathan Collegio told CNN that Republicans lost six Senate races in the last two election cycles because they nominated “undisciplined candidates” rather than Republican veterans.

The group favors William F. Buckley’s dictum to nominate “the most conservative candidate in the primary who can win the general election,” over Ronald Reagan’s commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”

Collegio insisted the Victory Project wanted to elect conservatives.

“But we have to win general elections,” he added.

Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who has a history of incendiary comments about immigrants, could be one of the organization’s first targets, according to Law. The ultra-conservative Republican indicated last month that he was seriously considering running for the U.S. Senate in 2014.

Conservative groups have blasted the new initiative, and were quick to note that moderate Republicans fared no better than tea party candidates in 2012.

“The Conservative Defeat Project is yet another example of the Republican establishment’s hostility toward its conservative base,” said Matt Hoskins of the Senate Conservatives Fund said. “Rather than listening to the grassroots and working to advance their principles, the establishment has chosen to declare war on its party’s most loyal supporters. If they keep this up, the Republican Party will remain in the wilderness for decades to come.”

An Insider Account Of How Fox Called Ohio On Election Night

ADAM SHAH/Media Matters for America

New York Magazine's Gabriel Sherman reported that after Fox News initially made the call that President Obama had won Ohio, Karl Rove -- a contributor to the network and the head of a pro-Mitt Romney super PAC -- fought against the decision, causing "Fox News' top producers" to call a meeting with Rove and two of the people in charge of making the Ohio call, Arnon Mishkin and Chris Stirewalt.

Ultimately, Fox  decided to have Mishkin and Stirewalt explain their reasoning on-air. But rather than have the duo appear on camera, producers decided to have Fox anchor Megyn Kelly "walk through the office and interview" Mishkin and Stirewalt in a conference room. Sherman reported that an anonymous Fox insider said: "This is Fox News ... so anytime there's a chance to show off Megyn Kelly's legs they'll go for it."

From Sherman's article:

Shortly after 11 p.m., Bret Baier went on-camera to read a script written by Fox's Washington managing editor Bill Sammon, based on an analysis by the network's decision desk, announcing Ohio for Obama. "That's the presidency, essentially," Baier said. 

Instantly, Fox phones lit up with angry phone calls and e-mails from the Romney campaign, who believed that the call was premature, since tallies in several Republican-leaning Southern counties hadn't been been fully tabulated. "The Romney people were totally screaming that we're totally wrong," one Fox source said. "To various people, they were saying, 'your decision team is wrong.'" According to a Fox insider, Rove had been in contact with the Romney people all night. After the Ohio call, Rove -- whose super-PAC had spent as much as $300 million on the election, to little avail -- took their complaints public, conducting an on-air primer on Ohio's electoral math in disputing the call.

[...]

This time, it was the network divided against itself, and Fox News' top producers held a meeting to adjudicate. The decision desk stood their ground. They knew how momentous the call was. Earlier in the night, according to a source, before making the call, Arnon Mishkin, who heads the decision desk, told Fox brass, "let's remember this is Fox News calling Ohio. This will say something beyond Ohio going for Obama." Fox brass told Mishkin to get the numbers right and ignore the politics: "If we think Ohio has gone Obama, we call Ohio," said a Fox News executive.

With neither side backing down, senior producers had to find a way to split the difference. One idea was for two members of the decision team, Mishkin and Fox's digital politics editor Chris Stirewalt, to go on camera with Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier to squelch the doubts over the call. But then it was decided that Kelly would walk through the office and interview the decision team in the conference room. "This is Fox News," an insider said, "so anytime there's a chance to show off Megyn Kelly's legs they'll go for it." 

Andrew Sullivan tells Stephen Colbert: Karl Rove’s ‘head just exploded’

By Stephen C. Webster/Raw Story

During a live interview immediately following Tuesday night’s election results, Newsweek contributor Andrew Sullivan told Comedy Central’s faux conservative pundit Stephen Colbert that Republican strategist Karl Rove’s head actually “exploded” live on Fox News when the election was called for President Barack Obama.

“Karl Rove is demanding a raincheck,” Sullivan quipped. “Right now, Karl Rove is challenging Fox News’s own polling unit and telling them they’re wrong.”

RELATED: Karl Rove in denial and arguing with Fox News as election called for Obama

“What do you think happens to Karl now?” Colbert replied. “He promised my billionaire friends…”

“His head just exploded,” Sullivan said, grinning.

“He promised a bunch of billionaires that if they gave him $300 million he would deliver [a win against] Obama,” Colbert said. “Does he have to go into, like, the witness protection program now?”

“Sheldon Adelson poured millions into six races and lost all six of them,” Sullivan noted. “Money is not everything.”

This video is from Comedy Central, aired Tuesday, November 12, 2012.

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Ron Reagan: Poll truthers smoking ‘giant crack pipe’ in Fox News green room

By David Edwards/Raw Story

Ron Reagan, the liberal son of former President Ronald Reagan, on Thursday said that the so-called ‘poll truthers’ at Fox News like Karl Rove and Dick Morris who deny any poll that says President Barack Obama is ahead were so out of touch that they must be smoking a crack pipe in the network’s green room.

During a Monday segment on Fox News, Morris had claimed that Romney was “in a very strong position” even though polls showed him down in all nine battleground states.

“I believe if the election were held today, I believe Romney would win by four or five points,” Morris explained. “I believe he would carry Florida, Ohio, Virginia. I believe he would carry Nevada. I believe he would carry Pennsylvania — Pennsylvania. And I believe he would be competitive in Michigan.”

“People need to understand that the polling this year is the worst it’s ever been,” he insisted. “Because this is the first election where if I tell you who’s going to vote, I can tell you how they’re going to vote. … And the models these folks are using are crazy. They assume a Democratic edge of six or seven points.”

On Thursday, MSNBC host Chris Matthews asked Reagan why Fox News would invite Morris on to slam even their own poll — which showed Obama leading Romney nationally, 48-43.

“You sometimes imagine that back in the Republican green room, there’s this giant crack pipe that they’re all hitting on constantly, hitting it hard,” Reagan joked.

“It’s time to say, ‘Don’t bogart that, Morris’ because I think he’s been on that pipe longer than most,” Matthews agreed.

“It’s true, he bought the pipe, I think,” Reagan added. “But let’s not give them too much credit here. The rank and file actually believes some of this nonsense. They believe that evolution didn’t happen, global warming is a hoax, Obama is a Kenyan. But the people like Dick Morris — and Sean Hannity for that matter, who has spread a lot of this kind of propaganda — they know better than this and there is a method to their madness here.”

“They’re not delusional, they’re dishonest. They’re not crazy, they’re craven… What they’re trying to do here and accomplish here is to say in advance, if President Obama wins this election, it’s because the pollsters suppressed the Republican vote, it’s therefore an illegitimate election, he’s not really president. They’re setting the table for that.”

Watch this video from MSNBC’s Hardball, broadcast Sept. 28, 2012.

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Fox Lets Rove Discuss Akin Rape Comments Without Disclosing His Conflict Of Interest

BEN DIMIERO/Media Matters for america

Fox News hosted Karl Rove this morning to discuss Rep. Todd Akin's (R-MO) comments that women have a biological mechanism to prevent them from getting pregnant if they are raped. Neither Rove nor Fox disclosed that Rove's political groups have invested more than $5 million in Akin's U.S. Senate race.*

Akin has come under fire for saying in an interview yesterday that it is "really rare" for women subjected to "legitimate rape" to become pregnant. In an appearance on America's Newsroom, Rove was asked by anchor Martha MacCallum about Akin's comments and a separate Politico story about GOP congressman Kevin Yoder skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee. MacCallum -- who didn't play video of Akin's comments, instead choosing to vaguely describe them -- asked Rove whether the two scandals "deserve the attention they're getting."

Rove explained that "the Akin story will be important inside Missouri," but quickly pivoted to discussing the deficit and other economic issues. Rove's attempt to change the subject mirrors Akin's statement about the controversy last night, in which Akin, after claiming he "misspoke," attempted to refocus the story on "very important issues, starting with the economy."

Asked how badly Akin's comments will hurt him in his race against Sen. Claire McCaskill, Rove conceded that Akin has some "real explaining to do," then abruptly changed the subject to a story he said was "far more important," the Republican Party's fundraising advantage over the Democratic Party.

Between June and early August, Crossroads GPS, the 501(c)(4) offshoot to Rove's American Crossroads Super PAC, has spent more than $850,000 on the Missouri Senate race. According to The Washington Post, Crossroads GPS has spent more than $5.4 million dollars overall in Missouri.*

During the segment, Rove was identified as both a Fox News contributor and a former Bush adviser, but his connection to Crossroads was not disclosed. 

Fox News has previously promoted ads from Rove's political groups and hosted Rove to discuss races he is invested in without disclosing the conflict of interest.

UPDATE:

According to Politico, Crossroads has pulled its ads from the Missouri Senate race following the controversy over Akin's comments:

The group had originally booked a new round of ads to start Wednesday but began canceling them earlier today. The decision comes in the wake of comments by Missouri Rep. and GOP Senate nominee Todd Akin questioning how often women can get pregnant from "legitimate rape."

Contacted about the decision to withdraw its resources from Missouri, Crossroads spokesman Nate Hodson responded: "The act speaks for itself."

*This post originally understated the amount of money Crossroads had invested in the Missouri Senate race and has since been updated. 

The Continuation Of The WSJ's Rove Problem

REMINGTON SHEPARD/media Matters for America

Karl Rove is continuing to use Wall Street Journal column to blatantly advance his own financial interests.

Rove is the co-founder of Crossroads GPS and American Crossroads, two outside groups devoted to defeating President Obama in the November election. And in his August 8 Journal column, Rove touted the efforts of outside groups working against Obama without any disclosure of his own involvement in such groups.

Rove advised Mitt Romney to run positive ads while leaving the dirty work of negative advertising to outside groups:

Mr. Romney also began running more positive ads. The election will not be won just by highlighting Mr. Obama's failures, a job better left (mostly) to outside groups. Because it can put the candidate on camera, the Romney campaign is better positioned to reassure voters that he has a plan to create jobs, reduce spending, and make America more prosperous.

Rove's outside groups plan to raise at least $240 million ahead of Election Day in order to fund ad buys.

And Rove's groups are indeed busy smearing Obama just as Rove suggested they should in his Journalcolumn. Last week, Rove's group unveiled a new ad that falsely claimed that the 2009 stimulus bill failed.

Rove's group previously produced an anti-Obama attack ad that deceptively edited comments the president has made. Rove subsequently hyped the same distortion in his Journal column.

The Journal has a Rove problem. It allows Rove to hype distortions promoted by his political groups, it allows him to promote the role of his groups in this election cycle, and it refuses to acknowledge Rove's conflict of interest.