Sign McCain Went Too Far In Ads: Criticism From Karl Rove

Once upon a time you would never think that GOP political maven Karl Rove would ever even think of remotely criticizing a Republican presidential candidate for going too far in campaign ads — but Rove has done just that in comments to Fox News in which he suggested that McCain’s campaign ads have started to go over the line.

What does this mean?

Rove’s comments acknowledge that a)a conventional wisdom is out there in the mainstream news media that needs to be addressed (so he frames it within the criticism of both sides going too far) b)he is concerned enough about the long term impact on the McCain campaign to criticize it (no matter how it is framed) in public.

In terms of media image, Saturday was a damaging day for McCain…

Here’s the key part of the Fox News story and the transcript.

From the story:

Former Bush campaign guru Karl Rove said Sunday that both campaigns’ attacks have “gone one step too far,” adding that some McCain spots go “beyond the 100-percent-truth test.”

“Both campaigns ought to be careful about it. They ought to — there ought to be an adult who says, ‘Do we really need to go that far in this ad? Don’t we make our point and won’t we get broader acceptance and deny the opposition an opportunity to attack us if we don’t include that one little last tweak in the ad?’” Rove told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

Rove, a Fox News contributor, has provided informal advice to the McCain campaign for months but singled out the GOP nominee today for recent attacks that he believes go beyond the pale.

McCain launched a TV spot last week distorting Obama’s state senate record in which he accused the Democrat of supporting sex education for kindergartners. For his part, Obama has previously distorted McCain remarks, including saying that the GOPer supports at 100-year war in Iraq.

“They don’t need to attack each other in this way. They have legitimate points to make about each other,” Rove said. “Both campaigns are making a mistake, and that is they are taking whatever their attacks are and going one step too far.”

The relevant section from the transcript:

Rove first addresses Obama’s (in)famous ad blasting McCain for not being able to use a computer (he attributes this to war injuries…). There’s this:

WALLACE: All right, and for fair game, what is McCain doing that goes a step too far?
ROVE: Well, McCain has gone in some of his ads — similarly gone one step too far, and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the 100-percent-truth test.
They don’t need to attack each other in this way. They have legitimate points to make about each other that are beyond, you know, the…

WALLACE: Real quick question — 30 seconds. Do they need to be 100 percent passing the truth? Just, in other words, when you were running Bush’s campaign, did you care whether some fact-check organization…

ROVE: No, and look, you can’t trust the fact-check organizations, with all due respect. They’re human beings. [See our earlier post below on this. JG] They’re individuals. They’ve got their own biases built in there.

But both campaigns ought to be careful about it. They ought to — there ought to be an adult who says, “Do we really need to go that far in this ad? Don’t we make our point and won’t we get broader acceptance and deny the opposition an opportunity to attack us if we don’t include that one little last tweak in the ad?”

The bottom line: Rove senses a backlash…a perhaps damaging one.

UPDATE: The Obama campaign has responded:

“In case anyone was still wondering whether John McCain is running the sleaziest, most dishonest campaign in history, today Karl Rove – the man who held the previous record – said McCain’s ads have gone too far,” said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.