Rove Cheerleads Obama for a Reason: He Thinks He is Easier Prey for the GOP than Clinton

It's one of the oldest ethnic clichés in the book. The one that says beware of Greeks bearing gifts. But there's nothing ethnically incorrect about saying it when former Bush political guru Karl Rove bears political gifts to a Democrat. The recipient of the Rove largesse is Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama. In an open memo to Obama, Rove caused a titter when he ticked off six things that Obama should and could do to nail Hillary Clinton. Rove's sage suggestions were that he should mount an all-out no holds barred attack on her personality, record, and demeanor. Rove told Obama to stop sounding wishy-washy on the hot button issues such as immigration, and to tell the voters just who he is and what kind of change they'd expect in an Obama White House.

Since Rove is not a paid or unpaid consultant for Obama, those sound political stratagems he offered Obama on a public platter come with a price, or maybe better to say with Rove, an ulterior motive. It's not hard to figure it out what that is. Rove wants Obama to win. That seems to defy conventional GOP thinking that conservative Republicans are giddy with delight at the prospect of a Hillary nomination. Hillary carries mounds of baggage, being a woman, the Clinton name, the deep and resonant hate Bill residue from ultra rightists and Christian fundamentalists, and polls that consistently show Clinton has the lowest likeability ratings among the major candidates. She's so polarizing, so the thinking goes, that she'll single-handedly drive legions of Republican conservatives and fence leaning independents to storm the polls chanting an anybody-but-Hillary mantra. The clinical hate for Clinton in some circles dripped off shock jock Don Imus' lips his first day back on the job. Imus picked up the throw-away line from the late avowed Clinton basher Jerry Falwell who likened Clinton to the great Satan a couple of years back and refused to take it back when he got flack for it.

Rove also knows something else about Hillary. While she bottoms out on the issue of likeability, polls also show that voters like her for her strength and experience. And top gun Democrats will back her to the hilt. Despite a ton of negatives, these are the qualities that ultimately powered Rove's boss back into the White House. These are also the same qualities that ultimately could prove fatal to Obama's candidacy. Though he scores high on the likeability scale, he swaps places with Clinton on the crucial issue of experience. He's still widely regarded as too new, too untested, and too inexperienced to win a head-to-head contest with Giuliani.

Rove's Obama ploy, and that what it is, is a slick, sophisticated, reversal of the conservative Republican's devil tag on Clinton. But it's every bit as cynical, and calculating. Paint Obama as a good guy, a fresh face, and someone who can make a real change for America. The exact last things that Rove wants to see in a Democrat in the White House. But an on-the-attack Obama who dogs Clinton at every step can create havoc in the Democratic Party. It could plunge the party into an orgy of Clinton-Obama sniping, bashing, and finger pointing. That would fuel dissension, stoke bitter divisions and deflect attacks from Bush policies and the GOP candidates that for better or worse are Siamese twin like welded to him and his policies.

The contest would be reduced to a referendum on Hillary. The sores and wounds would be so deep that countless numbers of Democrats, especially black Democrats, who are torn down the middle between Clinton and Obama, would be lukewarm toward the eventual Democratic nominee, maybe lukewarm enough in the GOP's fondest hopes to stay home on Election Day.

Rove banks that Obama as the Democratic nominee would be even riper for the Republican pickings than Hillary. Though Obama is touted as the post-civil rights generation candidate -- meaning that he doesn't spew race politics as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and doesn't make white voters viscerally cringe -- he's still an African-American. And race still matters in politics, and in some places matters a lot, especially as Rove well knows in the crucial battleground states of Ohio, Florida and other must win states.

Obama is tailor-made for sneaky, closet reminders that his color and allegiance to race-neutral politics is suspect. While white voters swear to interviewers and pollsters that they vote competence, not color (after all who wants to come off looking and sounding like a bigot), there's still the ever murky phenomena of election booth conversion. That's the phenomena where many white voters despite public declarations of color-blindness get sudden 20-20 color vision in the privacy of the voting booth when the race is between a black and a white candidate. Voter duplicity did in black Democrats Harvey Gant and Harold Ford in their respective Senate races against well-heeled white GOP opponents. Rove knows that too.

Rove gave Obama seemingly some priceless advice on beating Clinton. But the advice was not given to put Obama in the White House, but to make sure that he and no other Democrat gets there.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation between African-Americans and Hispanics (Middle Passage Press) hutchinsonreport@aol

Comments

[djarvis]

We shouldn't be worried about what Karl Rove thinks when it comes to the '08 election. Call me naive, but I think it is cynical to believe that Americans will be racist when it comes to choosing our next President. I don't believe racism is as rampant as it used to be, and Obama has the charisma and eloquence to transcend race. If we refuse to vote for Obama simply because we are afraid he can't win, we'll be missing out on the opportunity to vote for the one candidate in this race that can unite America and bring about the real, positive change this country needs.

[bolderdash]

What Karl Rove endorses or favors for the Demos, do the complete opposite. He's the Spin-Doctor of all spin-meister's, and he knows the political landscape better then any other political consultant in America. remember he was the Architect of Bush/Cheney's election/r­e-election of 2000 and 2004.

Obama woould definitely be the easiest and most vulnerable to attack by his opponents in a general election, if he survives the Demo primaries in first place delegate count.

their would be a 'witch hunt' alone for his chosen middle name, Hussein, a muslim name matching that of ex-Dictator Saddam Hussein of Iraq, etc. Having nothing to do with this name comparison, the 'appearance' or 'image' of said name in relation to the real Barack Obama, the person, will stick in some American's brains as anti-American.

Obama, who is a fine and intelligent, compassionate U.S. State Senator, with high moral principles, could be really big mud in the General election for President in '08, if he's the chosen candidate for the demo's.

[RuthieM]

I don't think so, I think Rove hates Hillary so much he actually is genuine in his advice to Obama against Hillary. Afterall, surely Rove couldn't think Obama would be stupid enough to take his advice knowing it's a bait, and so therefore, the writing of this article is really more of the writer having faith in Rove than Obama ever would in your same regard.

[Marrob]

WOW!!! Earl am suprised you'd make a comment like this. I agree totally with the title of this article. Rove would love to do battle with anyone other than Hillary Clinton. He beat Edwards and can dismantle the rest with relative ease.

[ButterflyWeed]

Defecting Republicans (with no strong candidate of their own) are more likely to embrace Obama than Clinton. In an effort to plug the hole in his bucket, Karl plots to make Obama seem as aggressive as Clinton, therefore muddying any clear choice for his defectors.

[Dantheman99]

Rove wants Clinton to do well. His project of a "permanent" Republican majority is in tatters. By all estimates, the Republicans are going to suffer big losses in the House and Senate and State Legislatures even if a Republican can speak back into the White House by negative campaigning.

I don't think he thinks Hillary can necessarily be beaten. What they believe Hillary will do is immediately reunify the party so it can get back on its feet again and possibly retake Congress in 2010 in a anti-Clinton backlash similar to 1994.

Rove is thinking long-ball.

But, we shouldn't be taking cues from him anyway. The Progressiv­es/Liberal­s/Laborite­s/Greens/D­emocrats should listen to people who want them to do well.

[Tsunami]

THANK YOU for telling it like it is. For years the right has been spreading the lie that Senator Clinton can be beaten because they wanted to kill her candidacy before the primary. Now, that she is coming on strong, the right and the media are trying to kill her candidacy by helping Obama because they know they can beat Obama. And the Dems, hopefully, they are not dumb enough to fall for that. The Iowans will recognize the corn and vote for Senator Clinton.

[thegaygardener]

This is so much reverse psychology. Rove & gang are scared because Hillary's numbers are down. They know she is the easiest to beat. Obama is a wild card to them, they don't know how to play it/him. At the end of the day, voters will be looking for change, true change, over experience (which HRC supposedly represents) and likeability is always in play.
Just because GWB is such a disaster does not mean we won't enter the voting booth thinking of the person we'd "most like to have a beer with" That person is not, and never will be Hillary Rodham Clinton. Change + likeability = Obama.

[NotaBeliever]

Obama is not my choice. Clinton is not my choice. At this point, my choice is fluid. But I would be hard-pressed to support any Democrat who played using the Rove playbook. Good god, the man is beyond reprehensible.
Which brings me to my next point, which is: I don't care which Democrat wins the Dem primary. I will be voting for him or her in the general elections. To vote Republican at this juncture is unthinkable. What possible ammunition could the GOP come up with against any Democrat in the race that is one-tenth as bad as what could be thrown at any current Republican?

[LeeFromVA]

Rove is obvious Earl. You got it wrong. The only way Rove can help Hillary win the primary is to pretend to support Obama. "Oh please through Hillary into the briar patch" He's smart enough to know that her appeal to the Democrats is that she's always trying to stick it to the Republicans. A little opposition from them just reinforces that notion. And why come out now? Could it be that their plan for the General election is slipping in the polls in Iowa? Obama on the otherhand scares them to death. Many Republicans actually like him. I have a die-hard republican friend that shocked me when he announced he's supporting Obama. Like many other Republicans he's impressed with Obama. Rove is watching his strategy go down the hopper and he's panicking the same way Hillary is. None of this really matters in the long run. Obama is slowly but surely catching on. The more the public gets to know him the more they like him. His numbers will climb. Hillary's only hope is to hang on to the supporters she already has because those that do not support her are dead set against her. But the polls show she's slipping and I don't see a way back for her.

[daniel155]

One the other side of the aisle, Huckabee is getting favorable coverage because he would be the easiest to defeat.

[Chocolate2008]

QUESTION:

With all these Anti-Obama posts, are we going to have a new wave of bloggers when he wins the Democratic Nomination? Or will we just be getting a wave of apologies?

[Taratrue]

I totally agree. As a matter of fact I have been posting the same idea here at Huffington post for the last week.

[KansasKowboy]

You are exactly right Mr. Hutchinson. Unfortunately I think both Hillary and Obama would make great Presidents. But I worry about the electability of both. Especially against the wingnuts of the right. These politicians think the electorate are stupid. And in most cases I believe they are correct in that thinking. I was listening to what I consider a left leaning call-in talk show today, and I was surprised that almost all who called in talking about the discovery that Iran was not working on building a nuke said they thought that Iran was lying or that the Intelligence community had it wrong. All were willing to give Bush a pass on his rhetoric. Most people just don't care to inform themselves on our presidential candidates.

[Pdubya]

I think you're one chess move short of Rove's goal. He knew Barack would not appease him in attacking Clinton. Clinton would actually be easier to beat withthe GOP than Clinton. GOP loathes Clinton.

Regarding Obama? He's swell. But I do not like how he's struck his pen.

Democrats for Ron Paul
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Paul
Introduced bill to end Iraq War in 2007 No No YES
Iraq exit strategy: “We should just come home.” No No YES
Denounces doctrine of pre-emptive warfare No No YES
Took off the table future pre-emptive strike on Iran No No YES
Took off table future escalation of Afghanistan war No No YES
Calls to bring US military home from all foreign nations No No YES
Calls for foreign policy of military non-interventionism No No YES
Will reduce foreign military expense by $500 billion No No YES
Voted against the Iraq war 2002 No Not in Congress
in 2002 YES
Calls to repeal “Patriot” Act No No YES
Voted against the “Patriot” Act in 2002 No Not in Congress
in 2002 YES
Supports ending all gov’t subsidies to corporations No No YES
Doesn’t receive millions from big corporations No No YES
Wants to end the “inflation” tax which hurts the poor No No YES
Wrote bill to protect Social Security fund No No YES
Would end federal war against medicinal marijuana No No YES
End income tax on tips and gratuities No No YES
Opposes delegation of Congressional authority to President No No YES
Supports ending failed federal war on marijuana users No No YES