Karl Rove Refuses to Say That Sarah Palin Would Be a Good President

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 04:58 pm

We a finally found a lie that Karl Rove won’t tell. On Face The Nation, the former Bush’s Brain was asked about whether Palin would be a good president. He answered, “Well I don’t know if she is going to run or not, and if she does she will be a formidable candidate.”

Here is the video via The Page:

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

Rove was asked by host Bob Schieffer, if Sarah Palin was going to run for president, and if she would be a good president. Rove responded with a dodgy non-endorsement, “Well, I don’t know whether she is going to run or not, and if she runs she would be a formidable candidate, but look there are going to be several geological ages that are going to come and go before the 2012 Republican presidential nomination fight gels.”

Rove compared GOP 2012 to the Democrats in 2008, “It’s going to be like the Democrats. Who at this point in 2006 was saying oh yeah, it’s going to be that guy Obama. He’s got it, and I think we are going to face the same process on the Republican side where every one of these prospective candidates, if they decide to enter the race has strength they need to work on magnifying and weaknesses that they need to endeavor to overcome, or challenges that they need to overcome, and we don’t know that’s going to play out. It is going to be an interesting contest to watch.”

We can now add Karl Rove’s name to the list of notable Republicans who refuse to talk about Palin’s talents for the presidency. Rove joins both Joe Miller and Christine O’Donnell in dodging the Palin presidency question. Republicans are running as fast as they can away from questions about Sarah Palin. They realize that politically she is George W. Bush level toxic sludge. Anyone who associates with her runs the risk of falling approval ratings and declining political fortunes.

Last month Palin tried to use some remarks Rove made about Christine O’Donnell to challenge him for big dog status within the GOP, but as today’s remarks demonstrated, Rove is proving to be an elusive target. Rove limited his remarks to stating the obvious. In a fractured Republican Party, if she runs, Sarah Palin will be a formidable candidate. Karl Rove is not going to play Sarah Palin’s game. There will be no high profile media feud. Rove isn’t going to attack Palin.

However if Rove believed that Palin was qualified, he could have answered the question in a much different way. He could have said, “I believe that Sarah Palin, if she runs, will be one of many strong candidates who will make the Republican field in 2012,” or he could have said, “Gov. Palin has already demonstrated her popularity within the Republican Party. You can never tell how good of a president a candidate will be, but I’m sure we will have many fine candidates to choose from.”

My money is on it snowing in hell before Rove endorses Palin. Rove is a bit off base, when he compares GOP 2012 to the Democrats in 2006. Actually, by this point in 2006, the Democrats had a clear front runner in Hillary Clinton, and we were only a few months away from Barack Obama announcing his candidacy in early 2007. It was clear even before the primaries began that the Democratic field was at best a three person race between Clinton, Obama, and Edwards.

Nice try, Karl. Unlike the Democratic situation of 2006, in 2012, the most popular candidate with the GOP base (Sarah Palin) is also the candidate most likely to get trounced in the general election. Republican strategists are praying that Palin decides not to run. If she is somehow able to transform her cult of personality into the 2012 nomination, the Republican Party is screwed. Karl Rove isn’t going to forget Sarah Palin’s attempted power play against him. Unless she wins the Republican nomination, it will snow in hell before he ever supports Sarah Palin.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association