George Costanza
A Friendly Liberal
This thread about Karl Rove (he got shouted down at a book signing) got me thinking about something. Check this out:
Both sides like to accuse the other side of doing the same thing they are being accused of doing. To a certain extent, that is true almost universally. But it isn't necessarily equal on both sides. In some areas, there is a huge disparity.
It is my observation that Republicans are generally much better at campaigning and in winning elections than are Democrats. I have heard it said that Republicans are very good at winning elections but not very good at governing. That latter business is not the topic of this thread , but the former part is. Republicans just seem to be much better at going for the throat and not giving up. Us Dems don't seem to like to go for the throat to begin with and as far as giving up is concerned, more often than not, we never even get started.
Which brings me around to Karl Rove. Rove is a master political strategist if you don't care about fairness, ethical principles or playing by the rules. He flat gets things done for the Republican party. But his methods are, shall we say, suspect? I'm not going to waste a lot of space being critical of Rove in the OP - there will be time for that later (heh, heh).
So here's my question for the cons: You like to claim Dems do it (whatever) as much as you do. OK. Name someone (anyone) on the Democratic side of the ledger, who corresponds to Karl Rove. Who do the Democrats have who, year after year, decade after decade (and that's the critical distinction), using all kinds of dirty tricks, enables the Dems to win elections and destroy opponents, as Rove does for the Republicans?
Naming someone who made the news on one occasion for doing something nasty won't cut it. I want someone who has hung in there for decades as "Mr. Dirty Tricks" for the Dems, as Rove has unquestionably done for the Republicans.
Gentlemen (and ladies), start your engines . . .
Both sides like to accuse the other side of doing the same thing they are being accused of doing. To a certain extent, that is true almost universally. But it isn't necessarily equal on both sides. In some areas, there is a huge disparity.
It is my observation that Republicans are generally much better at campaigning and in winning elections than are Democrats. I have heard it said that Republicans are very good at winning elections but not very good at governing. That latter business is not the topic of this thread , but the former part is. Republicans just seem to be much better at going for the throat and not giving up. Us Dems don't seem to like to go for the throat to begin with and as far as giving up is concerned, more often than not, we never even get started.
Which brings me around to Karl Rove. Rove is a master political strategist if you don't care about fairness, ethical principles or playing by the rules. He flat gets things done for the Republican party. But his methods are, shall we say, suspect? I'm not going to waste a lot of space being critical of Rove in the OP - there will be time for that later (heh, heh).
So here's my question for the cons: You like to claim Dems do it (whatever) as much as you do. OK. Name someone (anyone) on the Democratic side of the ledger, who corresponds to Karl Rove. Who do the Democrats have who, year after year, decade after decade (and that's the critical distinction), using all kinds of dirty tricks, enables the Dems to win elections and destroy opponents, as Rove does for the Republicans?
Naming someone who made the news on one occasion for doing something nasty won't cut it. I want someone who has hung in there for decades as "Mr. Dirty Tricks" for the Dems, as Rove has unquestionably done for the Republicans.
Gentlemen (and ladies), start your engines . . .
Last edited: