The Britt Hume-Karl Rove Transcripts: Rove wouldn't lie...would he?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Here is the transcript URL for Herman Munster's interview with the bloated sack of pig excement some like to call Karl Rove:



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,130093,00.html



ROVE: Well, first, no one in the Bush campaign has coordinated with the swift boat veterans. Ben Ginsberg, as you said, was our outside counsel and also outside counsel to the 527 group. That's normal. The legal counsel for the Kerry campaign is counsel to 527 groups there. The DNC legal counsel is the legal counsel for MoveOn.org, as well. They're fulfilling a legal function, not a political -- they're not political consultants. But Ben Ginsberg, who's a great friend of this president and has been with him since he began to run for president in 1999, did -- was -- resigned from the Bush campaign in order to remove any possibility of being a distraction to his friend. He wants to see the president reelected. He knows that there's a hypocritical double standard on the part of some in the media, where a lawyer for the Bush campaign who is also the lawyer for a 527 is somehow suspect, where a lawyer for the Kerry campaign and the Democratic National Committee, who's also a lawyer for a 527 group is not. And he accepted that reality and decided he wanted to help his friend. And the best way he could help his friend was to resign.

snip

ROVE: Well, look, I know Bob Perry. I've known him for 25 years. When I moved to Texas, you can count the wealthy Republicans who are willing to write checks to support Republican candidates on the hand -- on the fingers of one hand. It would be unusual if I didn't know him, having been active for 25 years in Texas.

snip

ROVE: Well, first of all, the Gallup poll -- I need to correct you on two points. Take the latest Gallup poll. It shows the president's job approval at 51. By comparison, at the same time in August of 1996 in the Gallup poll, Clinton's was 52. And in August of 1984, Ronald Reagan's was 54. So I mean, this president's job approval rating is within spitting distance of two men who won big reelections.

snip

ROVE: In the Gallup poll, which is, you know, is historically the best indicator and the longest running of these polls, it's -- that are out there. And yes, it's a close race. But again, as the Gallup poll, this president was up four points in the last Gallup poll. No Democrat, or nobody -- no challenger has ever beaten an incumbent president unless they came out of their convention with a big lead. Carter in 1976 had a 31-point lead over Gerald Ford, went on to win a narrow victory. Ronald Reagan had a 16-point lead over Jimmy Carter in 1980. Clinton had a 22-point lead over the senior Bush, Bush 41, in 1992. After the Democratic convention, the Gallup poll goes out and Kerry is behind. That's -- that's not, you know -- this is, it's going to be a close race. No doubt about it. But this president is in good shape to win a strong victory this fall.

[jefferson_dem]

1. Of course the Truth 'aint in that bloated sack of pig excrement.

Square these statements (thanks to Josh Marshall for compiling the side-by-side)

"Mr. Rove, Mr. Bush's top political aide, recently said through a spokeswoman that he and Mr. Perry were longtime friends, though he said they had not spoken for at least a year. Mr. Rove and Mr. Perry have been associates since at least 1986, when they both worked on the gubernatorial campaign of Bill Clements."

The New York Times, August 20th, 2004


***********************


HUME: Bob Perry, the Texas businessman who gave them the seed money, is a noted Republican, has been a contributor to President Bush, is someone you know. What about that connection, if there is a connection?

ROVE: Well, look, I know Bob Perry. I've known him for 25 years. When I moved to Texas, you can count the wealthy Republicans who are willing to write checks to support Republican candidates on the hand -- on the fingers of one hand. It would be unusual if I didn't know him, having been active for 25 years in Texas.

HUME: When's the last time you talked to him?

ROVE: Sometime in the last year. I can't remember exactly when. I saw him in the last year, and I remember seeing him someplace along the campaign trail and exchanging a few pleasantries.

Fox News, August 25th, 2004

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/