Chickens, roost.

How a mind as fine as Karl Rove’s could have ever thought it a good idea to declare war on the Tea Party, I’ll never grasp. While in many cases newcomers to activism, Tea Partiers are the heart and soul of the Republican Party, and perhaps even more important, the majority of that disturbing third of American voters who consider themselves “independents.” Not all such people call themselves Tea Partiers: that’s been made a dirty word, after all, mostly by people like Karl. But that reticence says nothing about their beliefs, and their beliefs — demonstrated all too clearly in the 2006, 2008 and 2012 elections — boil down to this: a lot of the time, it’s better to elect a socialist than a big-spending RINO.

Quibble with that conclusion as you may (and I do), these are not people whom Establishment Republicans should be attacking. Indeed, if they can’t quite get in bed with them, they should at least make an effort to co-opt them. But no, Karl Rove declared war, apparently on the theory that dividing Republican forces worked so well in 1912 and 1992 that we ought to try it again.

Well, as I said, the chickens have come home to roost. At the current rate, the Rove empire may disappear without so much as a wimper.

(By the way, if you think real conservatives should replace the Beltway crowd, send the money you aren’t sending Karl here.) — RDM

Donations to Karl Rove’s Groups Drop 98% After Targeting Tea Party

Tony Lee
Breitbart News
February 4, 2014

After wasting nearly $325 million during the 2012 election cycle with nothing to show for it and then declaring war on the Tea Party, donations to Karl Rove’s three Crossroads groups decreased by 98% last year. The groups reportedly raised a paltry $6.1 million combined in 2013.

Rove runs Crossroads GPS, American Crossroads, and the Conservative Victory Project Super PAC, which was formed this year to wage war against conservatives. Rove’s two groups raised $325 million in 2012 and about $70 million in 2010. As Politico notes, though, “Rove added a third group to the network in 2013, forming the Conservative Victory Project to counterbalance the influence of Tea Party and conservative grassroots forces in GOP primaries.”

Since then, as Breitbart News reported, “Rove’s organization has been so tarnished among the conservative base that candidates fear donors will not contribute to any group associated with him.” Aware of this, Rove’s Crossroads network has reloaded with groups that share donors but are technically not affiliated on paper with them.

All three of the groups “are permitted to accept unlimited corporate and individual contributions,” and donations to Crossroads GPS, a nonprofit, are even tax deductible.