Report: Karl Rove's Crossroads on Retreat, 'Unlikely' to Play in 2016 GOP Pres. Primary

Karl Rove’s American Crossroads, which futilely declared a war on conservatives, is reportedly unlikely to meddle in the 2016 GOP presidential primaries. 

Steven Law, the group’s chief executive, told the Washington Post that, “I think it’s unlikely we would be involved in the presidential primary.” He added that the group will engage in a “fresh assessment of how we fulfill our goals and targets” after the midterms.

As the Post noted, “Crossroads extensively recalibrated its approach to this year’s congressional races after feedback from donors dissatisfied with their return on investment in 2012.” That’s putting it nicely. As Breitbart News and other organizations like the Sunlight Foundation have noted, “Crossroads and its affiliated groups spent nearly $450 million during the 2012 election cycle with no wins to show for it” and the group has claimed that it had “good financial controls in place so that its money is not wasted.” 

The Crossroads groups have been scrambling after they declared war on the Tea Party last year, creating a group to attack conservatives in GOP primaries. After donations started to dry up soon after, Crossroads decided to deceptively reload against the Tea Party with groups that were formally unaffiliated with the organization but were funded by most of their core donors. After helping elect a slate of moderate Republican milquetoast candidates, Rove recently whined that voters were not excited about nor donating to them. 

Conservative scholar and talkradio host Mark Levin emphasized at the Values Voter Summit the importance of nominating a bold conservative in 2016 for president instead of a pale pastel candidate favored by Rove’s establishment.

“It’s very, very, important that we nominate a conservative for the first time since Ronald Reagan,” Levin said, as Breitbart News reported. “There are people under 50-years-old who have never had an opportunity to vote for a conservative president. We want to show them what it’s like. It’s our generation’s responsibility.”

Levin said nominating a true conservative is “invigorating, energizing.” He said it is “almost spiritual to get behind somebody with enthusiasm and excitement. To go door-to-door. That’s how you win elections.”