Rove: ‘Largely novices … unsophisticated people’ at Tea Party rallies

Raw Story

Democrats are sometimes accused of being elitists who look down on honest working folk, but former White House senior adviser Karl Rove appears to harbor a certain condescension of his own towards "unsophisticated" Tea Partiers.

MSBC's Savannah Guthrie questioned Rove on Wednesday about the "unfortunate language used this weekend at some of the rallies that one of the Tea Party founders apologized for."

"To the extent that the Tea Party is equated with the Republican Party, is that a concern for you?" she asked.

"This Tea Party movement is largely novices, relatively politically unsophisticated people, and as a result sometimes their rhetoric is raw and angry," Rove replied. "That's the downside."

Sounds to me Rove is saying "useful idiots". Talk about an elitist!

It sounds like the GOP is now trying to distance themselves from the tea party. They know as the tea party attracts more and more of the extremists, it will be increasingly marginalized by moderate Americans. A strong GOP association with the party could do damage come election time.

reply to post by Leo Strauss


Yes. He is exactly right, and that is exactly the point!

Hooray for unsophisticated, common people finally getting involved and standing up for themselves! Not only is Karl Rove correct, he is entirely missing the point, and he underestimates the design behind it! Any slick politician or overly sophisticated or well-funded infiltrator would likely not be welcome at a Rally.

The only exceptions being the bobble heads on Fox and the Washington DC organizations. Those two examples do not exemplify the common person that is now actively attending meetings and rallies and speaking to their friends and neighbors!

The Tea Party is only a name, kind of like Al Qaeda. It isn't any "One" group of people, and it doesn't have a leader, and everything you see on the news about it is WRONG!

The Tea Party is an Organic groundswell of common people finally leaving their own safety and comfort and sticking their heads out in the world of politics and asking questions and demanding answers!!

HOORAY FOR US UNSOPHISTICATED FOLKS AND YOU BETTER TAKE US SERIOUSLY, THERE ARE A WHOLE LOT MORE OF US THAN THERE ARE OF YOU!!

Coming from the likes of Rove, I would accept that as a compliment.

His kind of 'sophistication' is something we've seen in action.....

Originally posted by Kaploink
It sounds like the GOP is now trying to distance themselves from the tea party. They know as the tea party attracts more and more of the extremists, it will be increasingly marginalized by moderate Americans. A strong GOP association with the party could do damage come election time.

I don't know about the whole country, but in my area, nobody will be elected without the endorsement of the Tea Party! The GOP may be thinking exactly as you say, and if so it will be their biggest mistake! These big parties are known for mistakes of stupendous proportion and ignoring or distancing one's self from the Tea Party would be that kind of mistake.

In my area, Congressman Boyd has been practically unapposed for years, but he is worrying about some unknowns this year. He has started campaigning early, he tried to have some Town Hall meetings, but that didn't work out too well.

In my state, Gov. Charlie Crist had a double digit lead and was a shoe in for our Senate seat, but now he trails someone from his own party by about 6 points!

By September, the Tea Party movement will be the most significant Political Development in recent history! It isn't a "party" and it isn't a single entity, and it doesn't have any clear leader, but it does have a clear agenda.

SACK THE INCUMBENT, SACK THE INCUMBENT, SACK THE INCUMBENT

FIRE CONGRESS. STOP VOTING FOR POLITICIANS. GET INVOLVED. MEET YOUR REPS. MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS. PAY ATTENTION. SPEAK YOUR MIND. VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE. ETC., ETC.

If being "politically unsophisticated" means speaking honesty and truth instead of having the ability to lie out of the side of their face like this creep, then we should all be so lucky.

Politically sophisticated = lawyers, bankers, politicians and other diseased parasites who feed off of the life blood of honest folks.


Anyone would look politically unsophisticated next to this elitist, corrupt scoundrel of a yes man. Karl Rove would make the devil himself look honest and gullible by comparison.

And out of curiosity, when exactly have politicians ever NOT looked down upon the dirty and unwashed masses with contempt? We have been their object of exploitation for 1,000 years now and to this day continue to allow it to happen to ourselves.

Politicians and the power elite look down on us all as simpletons and cattle. All they see when they look at the average citizen is a potential vote and a dollar sign and nothing more.


Much the same way a leech would look upon it's potential host, only a leech wont lie and pretend that it's sole purpose in life isn't to bleed you dry.

Alright well I look at this way.

The Tea Party Movement is composed of mostly rural residents right? Doesn't that by definition make them "unsophisticated" as far as DC politics and procedures are concerned?

These people are "normal" Americans. They are not well versed in the political arena or how to conduct themselves into a positive political force.

It's very un-organized and bit sloppy.

So, on the technical side of things, I agree with Rove. Altough I bet you he wasn't following my train on thought when he made those comments.

~Keeper

The media is intentionally associating the tea parties with republicans, and then smearing the tea parties.

It is intentional - it is for a couple of reasons I think. There are important republicans such as R and R Paul who have been long affiliated with the movement, and the scum see them as dangerous. Not being able to attack them directly - they get them by association.

This may force Ron Paul to publicly distance himself from them - although he has such integrity, it will be interesting to see how he responds. He may simply opt to discredit the media for poor reporting, while identifying rogue elements in the tea party as not being 'real' tea party members - that is not adhering to the principals of the movement.

The second reason I think is to try and derail the movement itself, as it is certainly becoming very politically powerful. Discrediting it may halt its growth, potentially putting off new members because they don't like its image as portrayed (smeared) by the MSM.

Originally posted by Leo Strauss

"This Tea Party movement is largely novices, relatively politically unsophisticated people, and as a result sometimes their rhetoric is raw and angry," Rove replied. "That's the downside."

What he's basically saying is Tea Partiers are not slick, savvy, ultra-sophisticated manipulators of people and of the political system. They're not the kind of people who would buy favors or try to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.

That doesn't really strike me as such an insult.

And yeah -- the anger voiced at many Tea Party events is rather raw. That also means that it's probably pretty genuine.

I'm not a Tea Party goer, but I don't really see what is so bad in what Rove is saying. (Never thought I'd ever defend Karl Rove on anything, but there it is).

Originally posted by getreadyalready
By September, the Tea Party movement will be the most significant Political Development in recent history! It isn't a "party" and it isn't a single entity, and it doesn't have any clear leader, but it does have a clear agenda.

SACK THE INCUMBENT, SACK THE INCUMBENT, SACK THE INCUMBENT

FIRE CONGRESS. STOP VOTING FOR POLITICIANS. GET INVOLVED. MEET YOUR REPS. MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS. PAY ATTENTION. SPEAK YOUR MIND. VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE. ETC., ETC.

I think that is the best description of the movement i've heard.

There will be major attacks against it before the mid term elections by the MSM. The Republicans think they are safe by trying to associate themselves with the Tea Party but they're not.
Every time I hear someone like Hannity praising the Tea Party it turns my stomach. We don't want you!

reply to post by Anjin




Exactly. If I were a "tea partier" I would be far more concerned with the Republicans latching on and siding with my cause than vice versa.

I mean honestly, who has the horrible political track record dating back to Bush Sr?

If I were these folks I would be ashamed and angered to be associated with the likes of Rove, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of the spoiled corrupt fat asses who ran this country into the dirt and ushered in the age of Obama.

THEY ARE AS MUCH TO BLAME FOR THE CONDITION OF OUR NATION AND THE DETERIORATION OF OUR RIGHTS AS ANYONE. THEY GET NO PASS.

Rove is one of these people who view politics as a sort of game. Big enough, rich enough, powerful enough so laws and regulations and bills and policies which make the lives of everyday people a living hell have absolutely no bearing on him or his buddies. Therefore, politics is a game to him.

People like him dont feel robbed or threatened or disarmed or chained to a wall.

Anyone who feels the slightest joy in politics should be strung up. The entire spectrum of politics is evil across the board. Only evil looks to rule over others. Only evil looks to mandate how others should live their lives. Only evil promises safety and security in a world in which neither are possible.

Every last suit in Washington and every commentator or reporter with tingling sensations running down their legs needs to go.

this is great

keep looking down on us
keep underestimating us

it will guarantee your losses in 2010 and 2012

The only problem is, that there are quite a few rank and file civilian republicans jumping into these tea parties solely for partisan reasons to help oust the dems. And the media seems to do a very good job of identifying these people in interviews thus attaching us to the republicrat stupidity. There are quite a few republicrats that see the raw anger, and some are as equally outraged, that the partiers have and think that it would be the surest way to get thier party back into office. And you can tell because they are theones that start slobbering all over these GOP wannabes trying to usurp the movement.

[edit on 24-3-2010 by djvexd]

The T Party movement has nothing to do with the R or the D, it has to do with taxes, freedom, and individual responsibility, and good government by elected politicians obeying the will of the people. It's a movement without leaders, but an army with a cause.

Never underestimate the neocons. They are evil and they could really care less about the TPM except as a topic for humor. If you think that the neocons and the PNAC has been derailed; think again.
www.sourcewatch.org...

There are people behind the scenes that own the TPM. There may be grassroots members but the big money pulls the strings even down to the local TPM. Party affiliation don't mean jack, GOP, Dem, TPM are all just game pieces in the grand scale of things. If you really want to see how the power structure of America is designed; study the Skull and Bones, Bohemian Grove.

Remember the illusion is real!!

It's a brave new world, welcome to the monkey house.





[edit on 24-3-2010 by whaaa]

Originally posted by getreadyalready
Yes. He is exactly right, and that is exactly the point!

Hooray for unsophisticated, common people finally getting involved and standing up for themselves! Not only is Karl Rove correct, he is entirely missing the point, and he underestimates the design behind it! Any slick politician or overly sophisticated or well-funded infiltrator would likely not be welcome at a Rally.

I think you may be missing another part of what he is saying.

While it is good to get involved and stand up for yourself, being in the group as described by Rove, you will be mislead and used as pawns. You will miss the bigger picture because they sell you the smaller one, and you will of course end up supporting what you stand against.

Rove is being honest on this one.

Once again this larger-than-should be segment of America is being used by other politicians like a blunt instrument. Swayed by the latest rage-radio/TV-rhetoric, or politician hoping to get a bigger name, and then ushered around to do the bidding of their manipulators.

Rove forgot to mention that these are the people they NEED, and the condition they WANT them in.

- Lee