Source: Politico
Karl Rove says the 2012 election was a pain in his rear end — but that Republican candidates, not GOP policies, were to blame.
“My posterior was shredded a little bit by donors wondering why we are writing checks for people who then turn around a run such lousy campaigns,” Rove said on Wednesday while speaking in Dallas at a luncheon sponsored by the National Center for Policy Analysis, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Rove’s American Crossroads super PAC has been criticized by many within his own party after President Barack Obama beat 2012-GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and the Democrats kept a majority in the Senate.
“[It was a] tactical victory where people said, ‘I can’t bring myself to vote for the other guy,’” Rove said of Obama’s reelection, according to the Morning News. “American politics is up for grabs.”
He added: “We’ve given away at least five seats in the last two election cycles, maybe more, because of poor candidates. Our donors said, ‘We’re happy to write big checks, but we’re sick and tired of writing checks for [campaigns] that can’t win.’”
“It’s not a question of ideology,” Rove continued. “The quality of candidates matters.”