Karl Rove

Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950 in Denver, Colorado) is an American political consultant, and (as of 2005) U.S. President George W. Bush's senior advisor, chief political strategist, and Deputy White House Chief of Staff in charge of policy.

Notable political campaigns

1980 George H. W. Bush presidential campaign

For the next few years, Rove worked in various Republican circles and assisted George H. W. Bush's 1980 vice-presidential campaign. Rove is credited for introducing Bush to Lee Atwater, who would go on to play a critical role in Bush's 1988 presidential campaign. Like Atwater, Rove is well known for his effective campaign tactics, employing push polls and frequently attacking an opponent on the opponent's strongest issue.

Related Topics:
George H. W. Bush - 1980 vice-presidential campaign - Lee Atwater - Push poll

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In 1981, Rove founded direct mail consulting firm, Karl Rove + Company, based out of Austin, Texas. This firm's first clients included Republican Governor Bill Clements and Democratic Congressman Phil Gramm, who later became a Republican Congressman and United States Senator. In 1993, Rove began advising George W. Bush's gubernatorial campaign. He continued, however, to operate his consulting business until 1999, when he sold the firm to focus his efforts on Bush's bid for the presidency.

Related Topics:
Direct mail - Austin, Texas - Bill Clements - Democratic - Phil Gramm - United States Senator

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1986 William Clements, Jr. gubernatorial campaign

In 1986, just before a crucial debate in the election for governor of Texas, Karl Rove claimed that his office had been bugged by the Democrats. http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen1101.html. The police and FBI investigated and discovered that bug's battery was so small that it needed to be changed every few hours, and the investigation was droppedhttp://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/09/04/135514.php. Critics alleged that Rove had bugged his own office to garner sympathy votes in the close governor's race.http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/transcripts_060404_roving.html

Related Topics:
Texas - Democrat

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1992 George H. W. Bush presidential campaign

In 1992, "Sources close to the former president George H.W. Bush say Rove was fired from the 1992 Bush presidential campaign after he planted a negative story with columnist Robert Novak about dissatisfaction with campaign fundraising chief and Bush loyalist Robert Mosbacher Jr. It was smoked out, and he was summarily ousted" (Esquire Magazine, January 2003). Robert Novak provided some evidence of motive in his column describing the firing of Mosbacher by former Senator Phil Gramm: "Also attending the session was political consultant Karl Rove, who had been shoved aside by Mosbacher." Novak and Rove deny that Rove was the leaker, but Mosbacher maintains that "Rove is the only one with a motive to leak this. We let him go. I still believe he did it."http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/06/politics/06novak.html

Related Topics:
Robert Novak - Phil Gramm

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(Sources: "Karl and Bob: a leaky history," Houston Chronicle, Nov. 7, 2003; "Genius," Texas Monthly, March 2003, p. 82; "Why Are These Men Laughing," Esquire, January 2003.)

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2004 George W. Bush presidential campaign

Rove has professional ties to the producers of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth television ads that quoted Kerry reporting stories in front of Congress that he had personally heard from U.S. military personnel in Vietnam who "had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads," "randomly shot at civilians," and "razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan."

Related Topics:
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth - Kerry - Vietnam - Genghis Khan

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http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/08/19/politics/campaign/20040820swift_graph.gif http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/08/28/rove_role?mode=PF http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/20/kerry.swiftboat/index.html Another ad from SBVT accused Kerry of lying to win his Vietnam combat medals.

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President George W. Bush thanked Rove in his 3 November 2004 acceptance speech, just after defeating John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, calling Rove "the architect". http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/11/20041103-3.html

Related Topics:
3 November - 2004 - 2004 presidential election

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A few months after the controversy over the Killian documents during the 2004 campaign, it was suggested (by Representative Maurice Hinchey, among others) that Rove might have planted fake anti-Bush documents with CBS News. Allegedly, his motivation would have been the hope that CBS would rush to report the story with unverified documents, thereby deflecting attention from Bush's avoidance of military service during the Vietnam War. http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/02/22/hinchey2.htm Rove has denied that he had any involvement. http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040922-101433-4296r.htm

Related Topics:
Killian documents - Representative - Maurice Hinchey - CBS News - Vietnam War

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