Rove wrote in an e-mail to POLITICO that his efforts through Crossroads GPS and its sister group, American Crossroads, are not driven by his personal feelings toward the majority leader. And he declined to lay out his views of Reid, instead referring POLITICO to his new biography — which is none too kind to Reid.
Rove, in his book, characterizes Reid as an “unreliable,” “untrustworthy,” “rash” and dishonest Democratic leader — even though he said they both tried to be polite to one other in their initial dinner meetings.
Steven Law, president and CEO of American Crossroads, called it “completely absurd” that the group’s attacks have had anything to do with the relationship of the two men. He downplayed Rove’s role with the group, saying Rove “informally advises” it on strategic decision making.
But Law said dumping cash into the Nevada race was a “good investment” because the most powerful Democrat in the Senate remains very unpopular back home, making the race “high on our priority list” as American Crossroads gets involved in a number of Senate races.
But it’s clear Crossroads has had it in for Reid. The group raised eyebrows with its all-in approach, attacking Reid on the airwaves long before other Republican-leaning outside groups got involved. Such attacks helped give Angle cover when her sparsely staffed campaign couldn’t respond on the airwaves for weeks after the June primary.
Obviously, ill will has something to do with the story. But as we explain in Epic Journey (pp.176-177) decapitation has been a major element of American political strategy for many years.
