War and Piece:

April 18, 2008

What's Karl Rove up to this election season? National Journal's Peter Stone reports:

Publicly, Karl Rove is busy penning columns, appearing on television, giving speeches and writing a book, but the former White House political guru is spending time out of the limelight trying to nurture new independent political groups aiming to raise tens of millions of dollars to boost the entire Republican ticket in November. Six GOP consultants and lobbyists — with varying knowledge of Rove’s activities — told National Journal that Rove has been working for a few months to help line up resources and devise strategies for spending that money to help his party keep the White House and stave off losses in the House and Senate. Rove has had regular chats with GOP operatives he has worked with in Washington, and several prominent Republican donors nationwide — including some billionaires who were active in similar groups during the 2004 election cycle.

“Karl is up to his eyeballs in this,” says one prominent GOP consultant who has met with Rove a few times this year. “They’re trying to figure out who is going to do the presidential, who is going to do the Senate and who is going to do the House. They’re trying to assign resources to maximize the dollars and minimize duplication. Karl has taken it over.” To be effective, he adds, they need to raise “at least $100 million,” a sum that is likely to be at least what similar Democratic outside groups will spend. Rove didn’t return four phone calls in recent weeks seeking comment for this story.

Rove’s Rolodex is expansive, and sources say he has been on the phone or meeting with old friends from Texas like oilman T. Boone Pickens and Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who are expected to pony up millions of dollars this cycle to a few outside groups set up as either 527 or 501 (c) (4) entities. In the 2004 elections, two GOP 527 groups — Progress for America and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — together spent over $60 million on television ads that were instrumental in boosting the re-election bid of President Bush.

One new group being cobbled together includes old associates of Rove from the lobbying and communications firm DCI Group, including Tom Synhorst. The firm was heavily involved in the two major 527s in 2004. So far this election cycle, the key GOP group to run ads has been Freedom’s Watch which has relied almost entirely on the wealth of Adelson, the third richest man in the nation, whose worth has been pegged at $28 billion by Forbes magazine.