(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . In scathing essay, Karl Rove paints Vivek Ramaswamy as an 'echo' of Donald Trump [1] [] Date: 2023-09-01 Karl Rove, the political consultant once known as “George W. Bush’s Brain,” has vivisected GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, calling him “a political performance artist.” Rove didn’t mince any words as he chronicled the candidate’s many “grotesque” comments and and actions. He began his opinion piece by singling out “a particularly low point” in last week’s first Republican presidential debate, when “an unusually glib, shallow, overbearing, smooth-talking biotech entrepreneur proclaimed himself ‘the only person on the stage who isn’t bought and paid for.’” Rove wrote. “That’s when most Americans, and most Republicans, got their first real look at Vivek Ramaswamy.” Rove had previously criticized Ramaswamy’s debate performance on Sunday, in an appearance on WABC 770 AM’s “Cats Roundtable.” RELATED STORY: Ramaswamy on what he would have done in Mike Pence's shoes on Jan. 6 It’s significant that Rove’s op-ed ran in the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that Murdoch is desperately seeking a viable candidate other than Donald Trump or his mini-me Ramaswamy. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was once Murdoch’s great white hope, but his campaign is sinking fast. Ramaswamy, 38, is running third behind DeSantis in GOP primary polls. Rove, of course, is the political strategist credited with putting the younger Bush in the White House and he played a key role in pushing the U.S. into the Iraq War. And so it’s hard to believe that Rove wrote (and the WSJ published) something that Democrats might agree with, but that’s been happening with other Bush II supporters turned never-Trumpers, like Bill Kristol and Jennifer Rubin. And Rove and Trump have never really gotten along. Rove also never wavered in his support of then-Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, ranking member of the House Jan. 6 Select Committee. But it was when Rove criticized Trump’s CPAC performance in a March 2021 WSJ editorial, that the disgraced ex-president declared war. During the GOP debate, Ramaswamy praised Trump as “the best president of the 21st century” and repeated his pledge that, if elected president, he would pardon Trump of any and all federal convictions. Trump, who skipped the debate and remains the front-runner for the GOP nomination despite his two federal and two state indictments, declared Ramaswamy the winner of the debate and later said he’d consider the biotech entrepreneur as a potential pick for vice president. Rove noted in The Journal that Ramaswamy “didn’t care” that his opponents on the debate stage “had more than 123 years of public service among them,” while Ramaswamy has none and claims he didn’t even vote in the 2008, 2012, or 2016 presidential elections. Rove also denounced Ramaswamy’s “pattern of demagoguery” by regularly appealing “to voters’ conspiratorial instincts.” RELATED STORY: Cartoon: Ramaswamy on Climate Change He gave the example of Ramaswamy’s remarks to The Atlantic’s John Hendrickson, in which the candidate cast doubts about the origins of the 9/11 attacks (comments he later denied). As Hendrickson’s recordings indicate, Ramaswamy said: “I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers. Maybe the answer is zero. It probably is zero for all I know, right? I have no reason to think it was anything other than zero. But if we’re doing a comprehensive assessment of what happened on 9/11, we have a 9/11 commission, absolutely that should be an answer the public knows the answer to.” When it came to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Rove called out Ramaswamy for being “quick to disregard the truth when it’s politically expedient.” He quoted Ramaswamy’s remarks at a July GOP candidates’ forum in Iowa hosted by Tucker Carlson. Here’s Ramaswamy’s full quote at the event, as reported by The Hill: “What caused January 6 is pervasive censorship in this country in the lead up to January 6,” Ramaswamy argued. “You tell people in this country they cannot speak. That is when they scream. You tell people they cannot scream. That is when they tear things down.” Rove concluded his op-ed by likening Ramaswamy to a more sinister version of Professor Harold Hill, the con man from Meredith Wilson’s hit 1957 Broadway musical “The Music Man.” It’s easy to dismiss Mr. Ramaswamy as a present-day Professor Harold Hill, the con man in “The Music Man” with a ready smile and rapid patter skinning the citizens of River City. But Hill wanted only to sell band uniforms and musical instruments. Mr. Ramaswamy wants to control America’s nuclear codes—or perhaps to occupy a comfortable seat in Mr. Trump’s cabinet. He is a performance artist who says outrageous things, smears his opponents and appeals to the dark parts of the American psyche. There’s already a GOP candidate who does all those things, and worse. Republicans deserve a choice, not an echo. “A Choice Not An Echo” is the title of a self-published book by movement conservative Phyllis Schlafly; the book was influential in helping Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater secure the 1964 Republican presidential nomination. Rove’s apt reference to “The Music Man” actually is quite reflective of the present-day GOP’s fear-based political strategy. Just consider “Ya Got Trouble,” from the 1962 film, starring Robert Preston reprising his performance as Harold Hill from the original Broadway musical. Ramaswamy, for his part, offered The Hill a shallow and snarky reaction to Rove’s WSJ piece: “Sorry Karl Rove, I’m still not going to invade Iraq again.” GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy wants a constitutional amendment to take away voting rights for those under the age of 25. Sign the petition: No Republican dirty tricks. Keep the voting age at 18. Correction: An earlier version misstated former Rep. Liz Cheney’s home state. She represented Wyoming. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/1/2190943/-In-scathing-essay-Karl-Rove-paints-Vivek-Ramaswamy-as-an-echo-of-Donald-Trump Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/