Karl Rove predicts Romney loss to Obama

Karl Rove predicts Romney loss to Obama

Anthony Martin
Conservative Examiner

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Republican strategist Karl Rove. Photo credit: (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Republican strategist Karl Rove, who is considered the architect of George W. Bush's two successful campaigns for the White House, is predicting that Mitt Romney will have a difficult time beating Barack Obama in the general election in November.

According to Rove, the situation is so dire that if the election were held today, Obama would win handily.

Romney is the presumptive Republican nominee, although he does not yet have enough delegates to win.

Rove is known for his pinpoint accuracy in predicting how the states will vote in general elections. In 2008 he correctly predicted the election results in 48 out of 50 states.

In an interview with NewsMax yesterday, Rove states that if the election were held today, Obama would win 284 electoral votes compared to Romney's 157. A candidate must win at least 270 electoral votes to gain the presidency.

Although Rove admits that it is still early and the electoral map will change as the campaign progresses, his prediction is odd given his numerous statements on Fox News concerning the electability factor of various potential Republican nominees.

This reporter has personally heard Rove claim that Romney is one of the few in the field who has the ability to beat Barack Obama in November. He has also disparaged potential and former candidates such as Sarah Palin, claiming that they are unelectable.

The fact that Rove is now saying that Romney will have a difficult time coming up with the 270 electoral votes necessary to win is perplexing given his previous statements.

Further, Rove's assessment gives one pause to question the entire premise of the Republican leadership establishment that assumes conservatives are unelectable and liberal or moderate candidates are best equipped to win.

The leadership establishment has incessantly harped on the electability factor, claiming that only candidates such as Romney, Chris Christie, or Jeb Bush can garner enough support to beat Obama. Now that it appears Romney is sailing to the nomination, the public is being told a different story. Romney is in trouble.

This makes one wonder if the Republican leadership also misled voters on the electability of Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain. The leadership establishment claimed that these candidates are unelectable.

Interestingly, the very same elitist political machine said the same thing about Ronald Reagan throughout the 1970s and even in the 1980 Republican race for the nomination. While the faces were different back then, the mindset of the machine was exactly the same.

Reagan was constantly bashed as being too conservative for the general public to stomach. George H.W. Bush, who was one of the candidates opposing Reagan in 1980, referred to the Reagan economic plan as "voodoo."

Yet it was Reagan who became the only Republican to beat two different Democrats in two of the largest landslides in U.S. history, in 1980 and 1984.

These factors are ample reason to question not only the wisdom but the motives of people like Rove.

This reporter would like to ask Rove the following question: Why are you now saying that Romney will struggle to beat Obama when only a few months ago you were claiming that he was one of the few who are electable?

A second question logically follows the first: Do you also think it's possible you were dead wrong about the electability of Palin, Bachmann, Paul, Gingrich, and Cain?

Notice!

A new entry in my regular series Musings After Midnight is posted at my blog, The Liberty Sphere. Get ready for some plain talk. The title of the post is Musings After Midnight: NOW What Are You Gonna Do--Romney's Apparent Smooth Sail to the Nomination and Other Abominations.

Visit my ministry site at Martin Christian Ministries.

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Karl Rove predicts Romney loss to Obama - National Conservative | Examiner.com

Rove: GOP Faces Uphill Battle to Deny Obama Re-election

Thursday, 26 Apr 2012 05:24 PM

Veteran GOP political strategist Karl Rove says Mitt Romney is facing very tough electoral math in his presidential bid -- so dire that President Obama would likely win re-election if voters were going to the polls this week.

The math is simple and indisputable, says Rove, though he warns that the situtation is highly fluid.

The next president needs 270 Electoral College votes to win.

There are currently 18 states (220 electoral votes) where Obama has a solid lead and 15 states (93 votes) that are solidly in Romney's column.

There are six states -- crucial battleground states -- with a combined 82 electoral vtes that are “toss-­-ups” (IA, FL, MO, NC, SC, VA).

Five more states -- MI, NH, NV, OH, PA -- with a combined 64 EC votes are "leaning" toward Obama.

Six other states -- AZ, GA, KY, SD, TN, TX -- with a combined 79 EC votes “lean” Romney.

Simply put, that means there are 17 states for a total of 225 Electoral College votes up for grabs.

So if the election were held today, 284 electoral votes are safely Obama's, according to Rove. Romney has 157 safe or leaning votes.

"These projections will change as more polls are conducted in the coming weeks," Rove warns. The situation is extremely fluid.

Rove was considered one of the best prognosticators during the 2008 election when he called 48 states correctly, only getting Indiana and North Carolina wrong.

Rove: GOP Faces Uphill Battle to Deny Obama Re-election