Rove flubs on Romney; Is Fox getting its money worth? Michael Roston and David Edwards

Published: Thursday February 7, 2008



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Print This Email This Fox News has trumpeted its acquisition of former top White House aide Karl Rove as a political analyst in recent days. But is the "fair and balanced" news network getting its money's worth from President Bush's political architect? As rumors circulated that Mitt Romney would end his presidential campaign, the network turned to Rove on Thursday afternoon for remarks based on conversations between "Bush's Brain" and his supposedly well-placed sources. And moments before the Associated Press released clips from Romney's speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference indicating that he would certainly end his candidacy, it did not appear Rove's privileged insights were as well-developed as other commentators in the world of political news. "What I'm hearing is that there's a strong sense inside the campaign that he is going to withdraw. I'm not certain that he's necessarily going to withdraw today, in his speech, though that is a possibility," said Rove as he started his informed commentary. Rove drove home before the end of the segment that he wasn't certain Romney would quit the race. "I want to be cautious about this," Rove emphasized. "It strikes me that while the path is working against him, this may not be the moment he decides to withdraw, decides to announce his withdrawal."

This video is Fox's Fox News Live, broadcast February 7, 2008.









Transcript via closed captions



:: jane: what are your sources telling you at this point?



:: i am telling you there is a strong sense within the campaign he will withdraw. there' s a sense from people inside the campaign that the decision has been made and he will shortly be out of the race. jane: it sounds like you are hearing that the contracts have not been renewed?



:: on a separate front, they had a series of contracts with vendors that went through february 4. it is generally decided that campaign is ramping back, and the only reason to be grabbing back right now is that they worked either running out of cash, work since he has a big wallop, he is shot in the wallet. jane: give us the top reasons why.



:: john mccain has roughly -- when they finish allocating delegates, he will have more than two-thirds to win the nomination. that makes the mathematics of catching up to him very difficult. tuesday night, mccain one, albeit not by huge margins, but he won in every situation, and one more delegates than the others. what percentage just need to win? jane: some have suggested that there is potential that the romney campaign will be powered by this talk show host, rush limbaugh situation. a suggestion that there was still a chance for inroads. yet it was still close to a mathematical impossibility. how would you frame that?



:: it is true that people like limbaugh have big sway. but candidates have to deliver the message, and by the end of the day, no matter how persuasive the argument is by talk radio -- it is decided on the basis of the candidates themselves and how they deliver the message. mccain' s message struck home, that romney and huckabee struck delegates, he but they made fewer than mccain. jane: mitt romney will step to the microphone to address them. laura ingram is stepping up. she will introduce romney. as jim angle said, there is not an indication of what is to come.



:: i want to be cautious about this pre it strikes me that, while the map is working against him, this may not be the moment he decides to withdraw. jane: i am getting in my ear from ground sources that fox news is confirming that romney will drop out at some point today. a couple other organizations are as well. we' re not sure exactly when that would happen. carl, i want to ask you, moving forward, the gop -- healing that party. the draft is wide.



:: plenty of material senator mccain can draw on to heal the wounds. he does have a conservative record in congress, she has issues that -- he has issues that unite republicans. he has great qualifications and a strong message in this regard.











