Karl Rove and Markos Moulitsas' Newsweek Columns Debut

Former Bush White House Senior Advisor Karl Rove, and Daily Kos Publisher Markos Moulitsas debuted their new Newsweek columns on Saturday.

The man nicknamed "Bush's Brain" devoted his inaugural column to telling the GOP "How To Beat HIllary (Next) November. Rove writes:

Plan now to introduce yourself again right after winning the nomination. Don't assume everyone knows you. Many will still not know what you've done in real life. Create a narrative that explains your life and commitments. Every presidential election is about change and the future, not the past. So show them who you are in a way that gives the American people hope, optimism and insight. That's the best antidote to the low approval rates of the Republican president. Those numbers will not help the GOP candidate, just as the even lower approval ratings of the Congress will not help the Democratic standard-bearer.

Say in authentic terms what you believe. The GOP nominee must highlight his core convictions to help people understand who he is and to set up a natural contrast with Clinton, both on style and substance. Don't be afraid to say something controversial. The American people want their president to be authentic. And against a Democrat who calculates almost everything, including her accent and laugh, being seen as someone who says what he believes in a direct way will help.

You can read Rove's entire debut column here.

Moulitsas, for his part, reassures Democrats that minus a case of national amnesia, the GOP is headed to defeat in 2008. In "Make The Bush Record The Issue," Moulitsas writes:

Yet despite this dismal rap sheet, Republicans refuse to distance themselves too far from Bush and his record lest they take a hit from the fringe voters who still support his presidency. That is, after all, the Republican Party base, and no presidential or?congressional candidate can get far without its help. It's why Republicans refuse to break from the president on Iraq, despite the lack of political progress in Baghdad. It's why Republicans voted to support Bush's veto of the wildly popular State Children's Health Insurance Program, denying health care to millions of needy kids. Time and again, GOP leaders have forgone sensible and popular policies in favor of catering to a shrinking and increasingly isolated base.

Consequently, to stand any chance of winning next year, Republicans must pray for a national amnesia to erase the previous eight years from the minds of voters. But amnesia only happens in soap operas--and that's why Democrats will win in 2008. As long as Democratic candidates remind voters that the Republican platform and Bush's record are one and the same, victory will be assured.

You can read Moulitsas' entire debut column here.

Comments

[dax49]

i call on all self respecting americans to immediately cancel their subscriptions to newsweek

[Harrier]

Rove has a fork in him. He's done

[knerd]

Rovian wisdom: "Say in authentic terms what you believe."

"Gotta keep the war going until so we can blame the fiasco on the next president."
That's a BELIEF.
"Stay the course," "Fight them there and not here," "Don't let the Democrats pull the rug out from under our troops!"
And changing the subject, let's not forget our Domestic Policy: "Heckuva job, Brownie."

So there's a few AUTHENTIC TERMS to lipstick the pig, smokescreen the belief. Any euphemism as a stand-in for reality will do here.

[xargaw]

The point here is that Karl Rove has devoted his adult life to the politics of smear and filth. The very mention of his name makes most people crave a shower. Newsweek putting forth this mans words in their publication dimenishes them and all the good people that work to make Newsweek a credible publication. I, for one, won't be renewing my subscription. There are plenty of news sources. Why would I want to help put money in Karl,s wallet? As consumers, this is the only way we have to show our disgust and disapproval. I find it revealing that on the left, you have Markos, a veteran and grassroots activist and on the right, they sought out the dirtiest operative in my lifetime.

[darker]

More BRAIN POOP by Karl Rove [that's TWO 4-letter words for ya!] is NOT WELCOME.

Go back to your cage, Karl. You're out of the ring.

[youcannotbeserious]

GEE, its surprising that people have such a dislike for KRove that they're willing to end their subscription to Newsweek.

[dwillisno1]

The question that plagues me is "what crime, unethical activity, sexual perversion, lying scummary would a Republican have to commit in order for them to notreceive nearly instant rehabilitation, party embrace and some trusted position to do it all over again?" Remember all the rightie pundits bragging about how the Republican party doesn't tolerate their members who misbehave when they all thought Larry Craig was going to resign? Heard one comment about that lately? Now Denny Hastert is making ready to slither away from DC so whatever is escaping from his cesspool stink pipe can be managed into some cushy lobby job. We need a Democratic administration if for no other reason than to deny rehab jobs to all the repub offal looking for employment after they have finished stinking up Washington.

[loki]

I see Rove is going to work his magic not from the white house, but from a more powerful podium, the media. We are in deep doo doo now. Just look at the people like Rush, Beck, ORiely. Just think of the following the Rasputin of Washington as someone is already considered a God among the evil empire will have loose in the media?

[Dvmx]

Rove? We're waiting to see that scoundrel in an orange jumpsuit, and Newsweek gives him a column?

More shame on Newsweek.

[draftedin68]

Readers beware!

Sorry HuffPost editor, but the snips from the two commentaries fall woefully short of capturing their essence.

My first take was that Rove comes off as a "uniter" and kos comes off as the stereotypical angry blogger.

Please, PLEASE, PLEASE read both commentaries in their entirety. Otherwise, you'll not appreciate how little has changed in the insidiousness of the Rovian mindset and how well kos captured what is at stake in the election.

And while I'm ranting, it's clear why Hillary's photo accompanied Rove's slime job, but why in Hell did Newsweek use Obama's photo over kos' piece?

[Roafer]

Rove's first article in Newsweek is a perfect example of why Shillary is a dreadful candidate. The first words this jackass wrote at his new job at Newsweek:

I've seen up close the two Clintons America knows."

Well there you have it, we need to make politics about issues again, not juvenile, useless drool about the Clintons.........YAWN. Rove writing anything about politics for any publication is nothing but hype. The Dumbya Regime hit man has ZERO credibility except those ignorant %24ers, who the hell does Newsweek think their fooling but that very small fraction of the populace? Markos is just another blogger, Rove is a treasonous bastard.

Not only is Shillary unqualified to call herself anything close to progressive, but all we're gonna hear for years to come in the same old drivel about the Clintons. This is a corporate media dream, using the same old drummed up tripe we've been forced to endure in the past. It's a cash cow for the regressive corporate media.

We need fresh meat for a president, not one that will be used to boot around and distract the public from the plutocracy. We need one of the other Dems to get the nomination,Kucinich is the best one in the group, otherwise it will be eight more years of Clinton slander, the 90's all over again!

[transendentilist]

I do believe they [Democrats] care about the security. I don't -- I thought they were wrong not making sure our professionals had the tools, and I still believe that. I don't see how you can protect the country unless you give these professionals tools. They just have a different point of view. That doesn't mean they don't want America to get attacked.
-- Dubya doubles up on negatives here, White House, Nov. 8, 2006

[Richard729]

Markos Moulitsas probably has it right about the Republicans, mainly that as long as they remain cemented to Bush's war forever mentality plus sustaining his vetoes over domestic needs such as education issues and health coverage for millions of children, they will lose.

But, voters must absolutely reject the Republicans with overwhelming numbers in November 2008. Having a slim majority won't get the job done in fulfilling the goal of universal health insurance and an end to Bush's disastrous Iraq War.

That such an incendiary and partisan hack like Karl Rove can now have the forum of a major magazine such as Newsweek is reason enough for me to cancel my subscription. I have subscribed to this magazine for almost ten years but the thought of this most insidious, divisive Bush propagandist as a featured commentator sickens me.

Karl Rove, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, none of whom possess a college degree in anything, have only their hate-mongering and partisan, vicious smears and lies to tout as their credentials.

Newsweek magazine, by giving Karl Rove yet another conduit to spread his filthy lies and vitriol, presumes that this polarizing figure is an expert on everything when in fact his only accomplishment is in the spreading of hate. Newsweek is simply handing him another megaphone to spout the corrupt, corrosive Republican Party's propaganda.

Karl Rove's assaults against Americans who criticized Bush's breathtakingly failed administration which has diminished and nearly wiped out 230-years of democracy in the United States, has become something the editors of Newsweek have committed to condone and celebrate rather than condemn.

My Newsweek subscription expires May 26, 2008. I will not be renewing it.

[MPCarr]

I haven't subscribed to natiional magazines(Time, Newsweek, USNWR, Etc) for years. But if Newsweek is going to run a real column by Karl Rove, I am going to buy an issue now and maybe give gift subscriptions for Christmas.

Rove gave an honest and straightforward strategy for the Republican nominee to win the presidency. The Democrats should be happy to see it, rather than pretend Rove is some mysterious, secret mastermind of politics.

I hope the (R) candidadate follows his advise. Of course Rove's winning record is much better than Kos--2 to zero.

[nyboomer]

Rove is about winning elections. He cares not one whit about anything else. He would see a million Americans die if his candidate could win office in that fashion.

Rove is indifferent to the well being of America and Americans unless they are giving him money and backing his guys.