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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhen Rove’s Crossroads moves sharply to the left
Posted with permission.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/when-roves-crossroads-moves-sharply-the-left
When Roves Crossroads moves sharply to the left
08/26/14 08:39 AMUpdated 08/26/14 08:40 AM
By Steve Benen
Last week, Karl Roves Crossroads GPS operation launched a curious attack in Arkansas, accusing incumbent Sen. Mark Pryor (D) of being too conservative. This week, as Greg Sargent reported yesterday, Roves group is at it again, this time in North Carolinas U.S. Senate race.
Now Roves Crossroads is back with another ad that does pretty much the same thing, this one hitting Senator Kay Hagan in North Carolina over Social Securitys retirement age. The spot, which is backed by more than $1 million, says Hagan is a big believer in a controversial plan that raises the retirement age, while the words raises Social Security retirement age flash on the screen. It also claims the plan Hagan supports increases out-of-pocket Medicare costs.
Yes, it appears Roves Crossroads is attacking Hagan for saying nice things about the Simpson Bowles debt reduction plan, which squeezes seniors by cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits.
Yes, it appears Roves Crossroads is attacking Hagan for saying nice things about the Simpson Bowles debt reduction plan, which squeezes seniors by cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits.
In reality, Hagan really did say, I am a big believer in what Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson did on their fiscal commission. In context, the senator appears to have supported the commissions goals, more so than its specific recommendations, but its not as if Crossroads simply made up the attack out of whole cloth.
But that doesnt make it any less strange Roves attack operation has basically positioned itself in this case as aggressive liberals.
The Simpson/Bowles commission fell apart when its Republican members decided the chairmens deficit-reduction plan was simply too liberal (actual liberals disagreed). Soon after, however, Republicans and much of the political media excoriated President Obama and congressional Democrats for largely ignoring the plan Simpson and Bowles came up with.
I realize this doesnt make rational sense, but the debate about deficit reduction rarely does.
As time progressed, a sort of Beltway litmus test emerged: Democrats who were sympathetic to Simpson/Bowles were necessarily considered serious by David Brooks and Sunday-show bookers. Hagan, no doubt eager to demonstrate her bona fides as a red-state centrist, offered the bipartisan commission some rhetorical support.
And for her trouble, along comes Karl Roves group, accusing her of not being liberal enough.
There are some larger takeaways to this. The first, and perhaps most obvious, is the simple fact that Karl Roves Republican operation is giving away the ideological game. For all the talk about a center-right nation, and the emerging GOP wave, Crossroads seems to believe the way to win, even in the South, is to run to the left and celebrate social-insurance programs.
Roves group is effectively admitting, in the form of expensive ad buys, that liberal ideas are popular ideas, and as such, it makes sense for Republicans to attack centrist Democrats from the left even in Southern red states.
The second angle to keep in mind is the message Crossroads is sending to other Democrats nationwide: theres just no point in even trying to work out difficult bipartisan deals with Republicans.
If youre a Dem who opposed Simpson/Bowles, Republicans insist youre a reckless monster who hates Americas grandchildren. If youre a Dem who supported Simpson/Bowles, Republicans will tell voters youre a callous conservative who hates Americas grandparents.
Given this, what possible incentive will Democrats have for even trying to cut painful deals with GOP officials?
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When Rove’s Crossroads moves sharply to the left (Original Post)
babylonsister
Aug 2014
OP
FSogol
(45,448 posts)1. "attack centrist Democrats from the left" Gosh, where does that happen?
rogerashton
(3,920 posts)2. Nahh --
they are just trying to peel off some liberal voters, or get them to stay home. Probably won't work.
babylonsister
(171,035 posts)3. So this is why...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/25/1324536/-Karl-Rove-admits-left-s-position-on-Social-Security-Medicare-is-more-popular?detail=facebook
Mon Aug 25, 2014 at 01:24 PM PDT
Karl Rove admits left's position on Social Security, Medicare is more popular
Mon Aug 25, 2014 at 01:24 PM PDT
Karl Rove admits left's position on Social Security, Medicare is more popular
msongs
(67,361 posts)4. democrats have moved so far to the right doing this is a no brainer for rove n co. nt