AHC: President Karl Rove
- Thread starter Realpolitik
- Start date
CthulhuFhtagn
Banned
Nope, too ugly. By the time Rove would be old enough to run, it's the late 1980s/early 1990s, when color TV is a thing pretty much everywhere in the country. You can't win a national election with a face like that in the age of television.
Yes and no.
This is Rove's official White House photo as Bush's Deputy Chief of Staff. If we're going solely on looks, than yes, in theory he should be electable. Having said that, however, whether or not you actually want to vote for him is a completely different matter. Politically, if Dick Cheney is Darth Vader, than Karl Rove is Emperor Palpatine.
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Let's see. No real experience or understanding of the economy, of business issues, of labour. No foreign policy experience. No nothing, really.
All he really knows is dirty tricks and smear. He has no real agenda and no grasp of actual governance. So he'd basically cater to the right wing nutjobs.
Scary and incompetent.
All he really knows is dirty tricks and smear. He has no real agenda and no grasp of actual governance. So he'd basically cater to the right wing nutjobs.
Scary and incompetent.
Realpolitik
Banned
Ah, but don't you know? So long as you have a good image, COMPETENCE doesn't matter! You can get subordinates to do it, as well.
After about 2005, even before the Republican loss of Congress in 2006, Rove was falling into disfavor among us "right wing nut jobs", because he clearly wasn't genuinely conservative (and also clearly influenced GWB to hold positions that most of his supporters felt dismay over). He was (and still is) actually more favored by so called "mainstream Republicans" because he caters to the Beltway class far more to "right wing nut jobs" (aka us grassroots folks who actually make up the bulk of the Party).
So, a Karl Rove candidacy would go nowhere among conservatives.
OOC: Do you think anybody would take offense if I described liberals as "shrilly screaming socialist fascists", or some such innuendo, on AHC.com?
I mean, if it's acceptable to call conservatives and devout religious people "nut jobs" and "ultra fundamentalists" and so forth, it must be acceptable to use similar language about anybody who's to the left of me or who doesn't immediately agree with my conservative perspective, right?
...Or would both kinds of language be insulting, dehumanizing, and rob everyone of the enjoyment of coming to and participating on alternatehistory.com?
So, a Karl Rove candidacy would go nowhere among conservatives.
OOC: Do you think anybody would take offense if I described liberals as "shrilly screaming socialist fascists", or some such innuendo, on AHC.com?
I mean, if it's acceptable to call conservatives and devout religious people "nut jobs" and "ultra fundamentalists" and so forth, it must be acceptable to use similar language about anybody who's to the left of me or who doesn't immediately agree with my conservative perspective, right?
...Or would both kinds of language be insulting, dehumanizing, and rob everyone of the enjoyment of coming to and participating on alternatehistory.com?
Might as well get President Atwater.
Rove screams creepy backroom dealer not just in looks but personality too. Don't think he can command a room or an audience. He's not a compelling personality nor is he a policy wonk, he's basically a pasty hitjob operative that greased the right palms over the years.
Rove screams creepy backroom dealer not just in looks but personality too. Don't think he can command a room or an audience. He's not a compelling personality nor is he a policy wonk, he's basically a pasty hitjob operative that greased the right palms over the years.
Realpolitik
Banned
OP here. I was just interested in seeing if a Rove Presidency was at all possible.
I lambast "liberals" (the 60s kids, Baader Meinhof gang, certain left wing dictatorships and their "useful idiots", the SJW crowd, etc, might vary in definition and could go more under the category of leftist) I don't like on a regular basis and have not been banned yet. Also, I'd argue that there is a difference between "conservative" and "nut job". Both exist, but one is more prominent because they attract more headlines. Similar to how the SDS took over from the Cold War liberals in the 60s in mainstream discourse.
The key is to keep it intelligent.
What did America ever do to you, RealPolitik, to deserve such a horrible fate as having Rove as President? 
In all seriousness, I think the best way would be for him to become some Republican's VP and for either him to become Acting President if the current head honcho has some sort of medical condition that take's him out or to ascend upon a Presidential death/assassination. Rove doesn't really have the qualifications for a President in the modern age of television. He's a backroom dealer and politico not a "feel your pain" or "want to have beer with" kind of politician, which is how we elect most of our presidents (with the notable exceptions)
In all seriousness, I think the best way would be for him to become some Republican's VP and for either him to become Acting President if the current head honcho has some sort of medical condition that take's him out or to ascend upon a Presidential death/assassination. Rove doesn't really have the qualifications for a President in the modern age of television. He's a backroom dealer and politico not a "feel your pain" or "want to have beer with" kind of politician, which is how we elect most of our presidents (with the notable exceptions)
Realpolitik
Banned
What did America ever do to you, RealPolitik, to deserve such a horrible fate as having Rove as President?
It's purely a product of my sick, twisted mind and resentment toward humanity as a whole. After all, a Rove administration doesn't hurt just the USA.
Cheney is the same. Which is why we should thank the Lord that Bush did not choke on the pretzel.
I'm going to respectfully disagree on the whole "he's too ugly" idea--Rove's problem isn't his appearance--it's him. The man's a freaking college drop-out who has spent most of his adult life working as a backroom political operator. He isn't going to put in the time necessary to be a candidate, because to him, that's boring. He just likes being in positions where he can play at being the omnipotent, omniscient problem-solver--which he is not--while lacking any real accountability.
Yep, they are the LBJ to Bush's JFK (he said inviting the fiery rage of every JFK admirer).
Realpolitik
Banned
Sort of. If Bush II dies post 9/11(especially if he is killed by an assassin rather than choking), he gets the GOP version of the Kennedy treatment*, and Cheney would be like Johnson in that he both has a lot of latitude at first, but ultimately can't compete with the saintly ghost and will get the full flack for the fuck ups.
However, Kennedy and Johnson were giants, even in their flaws, compared to those two.
*That would weirdly complement Reagan being a pseudo FDR, Bush I being a pseudo Truman, Clinton being a pseudo, much more hated Eisenhower, and Carter a pseudo Hoover.
I meant more in the "experienced Washington insider" to the "more inexperienced but likeable top of the ticket candidate". The analogy isn't perfect but I think that's what they both come to. Obama and Biden fall under this to.
It would be interesting to see a President who's a complete dick and doesn't try to hide it at all. I could see something like this happening if the country gets even more polarized than it is OTL, both candidates run dirty, sneering campaigns, and Rove wins by a hair. How to get to that point- I do not know. A Gore victory in 2000 followed by a deep recession?