Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Rove Ruffled in SF Over Charges from SC Primary in '00

In San Francisco today, former Bush adviser Karl Rove got somewhat hot under the collar today when former senator George Mitchell alluded to Rove's allegedly dirty tactics in when George Bush faced Senator McCain in the South Carolina primary back in 2000. KGO's Mark Mathews has the story and video.

Rove demanded that Mitchell get specific about what inappropriate tactics Rove allegedly used in that race. Mitchell declined to elaborate. (Here is the account of Mr. McCain's campaign manager then and now, Rick Davis, though he doesn't blame Rove specifically for the racist fliers.)

The exchange reminds me a bit of a similar moment in which another senator, Alan Simpson of Wyoming, said that he had scandalous faxes on Anita Hill in his suit jacket, but declined to detail the allegations. Because the South Carolina claims are on the record, what Mitchell did isn't as outrageous as what Simpson did, but the exchange today sure was awkward.

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