I’ve come to learn that Rachel was mistaken about something last night.
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I’ve learned that Rove put money on the Nevada Senate race, where Republican incumbent Sen. Dean Heller defeated Democratic challenger Shelley Berkley. Rove’s groups also donated to Deb Fischer, who defeated Bob Kerrey in the Nebraska senate race. So that’s two wins, not zero. Of course, whether Heller or Fischer would have won without Rove’s money is not something I can measure.
Also, yesterday I said that Karl Rove’s groups all together had about a $300 million warchest to spend on this campaign. I’ve read some articles this morning saying it was closer to $400 million.
See also:
Karl Rove’s election nightmare: Super PAC’s spending was nearly for naught:
Karl Rove was the political genius of the George W. Bush era — the architect of the last Republican president’s two electoral victories. But this week, he may have had the worst election night of anybody in American politics.
Republican Reckoning Begins After Revealing Defeat:
“The billionaire donors I hear are livid,” one Republican operative told The Huffington Post. “There is some holy hell to pay. Karl Rove has a lot of explaining to do … I don’t know how you tell your donors that we spent $390 million and got nothing.”
I’m feeling some satisfaction here, in that it appears that the US government cannot truly be bought. Not yet, at least.
whether Heller or Fischer would have won without Rove’s money is not something I can measure
I hate to say it, but I don’t think Rove’s money made much difference in the Fischer-Kerrey race. Both candidates appear to have spent pretty equally on TV ads. Kerrey hurt himself by waffling at first about running, then immediately airing personal-attack ads, which Nebraskans despise (although they were less critical of the anti-Kerrey “carpetbagger” nonsense). Kerrey’s highest-profile endorsement came from comedian Steve Martin (bless him, but not really helpful).
Fischer is from the reddest of all Congressional districts in the U.S., according to Nate Silver, and post-election maps showed that Fischer won all counties except Omaha, Lincoln, and two or three counties adjacent to those two cities. Frankly, Karl Rove was betting on a Dodge Ram to beat an old three-speed bicycle.
The conservatives will double down on graft next time instead of just doing the right thing and paying their fair share of taxes.
George Soros apparently couldn’t change the ’04 election, and it’s nice to see the Koch’s and Adelson’s mostly strike out this year.
I still think we need to do something major about campaign finance reform. I’m not so sure money won’t affect the ’14 or ’16 elections, once they sit down and analyze what worked, and what didn’t.
Awww, it sure does hurt to find out that you are a fool. Some lessons are hard. I can sympathise, but I can celebrate too. Rachel’s big fat zero sure did have me gloating.
Seems to me that Bob Kerrey has been more of a New Yorker than a Nebraskan lately. His loss didn’t surprise me.
If my name was Karl Rove, I’d be trying to get into a witness protection program; or at least moving to a far away place where I could blend into the backround. Rove has screwed over a bunch of powerful mega rich guys who get their way OR ELSE.
Eh Karlo, andiamo, come ‘ere. I wanna tella you something…… RUN!!!!