You know it’s a good election night when Karl Rove throws a hissy fit on national television.
It came just after 11pm, when the man known as George W. Bush’s “architect” heard a TV network declare Obama the winner in Ohio. This wasn’t just any network, but Fox, the Republican Party’s official propaganda machine. The rabidly partisan GOP hit man doubles as a Fox commentator.
Rove was just off-camera on the Fox set as the on-air anchor team called Ohio, the state that sealed Barack Obama’s re-election. In fact, he was on the phone at the time with a top Romney staffer who was wailing that Fox was wrong, that Romney was winning Ohio.
chicagopublicmedia/Flickr
Every media outlet and even Republican officials were by then recognizing Obama’s win. So Kelly asked Rove the night’s most memorable question: “Is this just math that you do as a Republican to make yourself feel better, or is it real?”
Bingo! Karl the Kingmaker was having a really bad night. He had talked assorted corporations and fat cats into putting some $300 million into his attack ads against Democrats — and he had some serious explaining to do. American Crossroads, one of Rove’s two political funds, spent $103.5 million to defeat Democratic candidates, but the return on that investment was a pathetic 1.29 percent. Billionaires expect better.
In response to this brouhaha, Jon Stewart said that “Math You Do as a Republican to Make Yourself Feel Better” is a better slogan than the one Fox has now. No kidding.
