Karl Rove is on a mission to rid the Republican party of even more #batcrapcrazy right-wing politicians so that the GOP doesn't end up with another year like 2012. His hope is that the party will coalesce around reasonable candidates who may have a fighting chance in the general elections against Democrats.
But he needs to show that his super PAC money can deliver results. In 2012, American Crossroads spent over $103 million dollars in support of Republican candidates. Of that 103 million, only 1.29% was spent on candidates who went on to win their elections. The other 98.71% was wasted. More than 100 million Republican dollars, down the drain.
Minnesota media mogul Stan Hubbard, a Republican who has written big checks to Karl Rove, Crossroads and other conservative groups, said the GOP "has had too many candidates who are nut cases." He told Politico, "I don't think anybody anywhere with any sense is going to want to elect a candidate who says, 'If your daughter gets raped, it's God's will.' ...I mean, give me a break, will you?"
But Rove, former senior adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, is in for a fight. Citizens United declared the start of a "civil war"; the president of FreedomWorks declared, "The Empire is striking back."
Brent Bozell, a longtime right-wing fanatic, wrote: "It's a fight between Republicans who want to not only run as conservatives but govern as conservatives, versus the Bush-Boehner-McConnell never-mind approach." Several Tea Party groups backed Bozell's statement, praising him as an icon of American conservatism.
The president of Rove's new super PAC told The New York Times this week that they're particularly concerned about the Senate race in Iowa because Steve King (remember him?) may get the Republican nomination. King sent out an email to his supporters on Thursday, telling them, "Nobody can bully me out of running for the U.S. Senate, not even Karl Rove and his hefty war chest."
A recent PPP poll shows King as the favorite among Iowa Republican primary voters but he still trails 11 points behind the leading Democratic candidate, Bruce Braley.