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Eight years after helping George Bush defeat John McCain in a bitter primary, Karl Rove appears to be playing a significant role in helping the Arizona Republican win the presidency.
Rove has downplayed his contact with the McCain campaign, but the former adviser to President Bush met with GOP delegates from Colorado last Wednesday. Rove, who is now a Fox News analyst, told reporters after the meeting that he has friends in the McCain organization who occasionally seek his advice.
Colorado is a swing state. In an Aug. 14 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Rove wrote that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) must carry either Colorado or Virginia in addition to another small state to win in November.
Amid the media frenzy on the pregnancy of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s teenager daughter, Rove appeared on Fox to rebut published reports that the McCain campaign had not thoroughly vetted the Alaska governor.
He said the campaign “carefully vetted” Palin, claiming it was aware of all the revelations that have come out since she was announced as the running mate.
“They knew all of it. … They weren’t bothered by it,” Rove said.
Despite that insight, the McCain campaign denies that Rove has any kind of a prominent position. Asked if he has a major role and whether he has access to inside information, McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds replied, “He’s doesn’t. He’s a Fox analyst.”
In May, Rove cut off George Stephanopoulos when the ABC anchor called him an informal adviser to the McCain campaign.
Rove said, “I wouldn’t even go that far — ‘informal adviser.’ No way.”
He later characterized his conversations with the McCain team as “chit-chat.”
Bush dubbed Rove “The Architect” after his reelection triumph four years ago. Rove, regarded by many as a campaign genius, is reviled by the left wing. Even though he is now a private citizen, Rove is regularly cited in Democratic fundraising letters.
In its internal “daily talking points” e-mail, the Obama campaign late last week also referred to him, saying McCain talked about bipartisanship in his nomination acceptance speech, but “didn’t mention that he’s been a George Bush partisan 90 percent of the time, run a Karl Rove campaign, and wants to continue this president’s disastrous economic policies for another four years.”
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