Karl Rove

Friday, Apr 27, 2007 03:45 PDT

Rove's strategy for 2008?

A legally questionable presentation by Karl Rove's deputy gives a window into Republican thinking about 2006, and a look ahead to 2008. Read it here.

Citing a White House spokesman and other administration officials, the Washington Post reported Thursday that before the 2006 election White House officials conducted 20 private briefings on Republican electoral prospects for senior officials in at least 15 government agencies covered by federal restrictions on partisan political activity.

Originally obtained by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, this is a similar presentation, albeit targeted at the 2008 elections. Karl Rove's deputy, J. Scott Jennings, gave this presentation to Lurita A. Doan, who heads the U.S. General Services Administration, and approximately 40 GSA political appointees in the GSA headquarters building on Jan. 26, 2007. The presentation discusses how the 2006 election was lost -- and, in some cases, won -- by Republicans and seems to indicate where Republicans will focus their efforts in 2008.

Below are two pages from the Jan. 26 briefing; on this page is a list of House seats currently held by Democrats that will be targeted by Republicans in 2008; on the next page is a list of vulnerable House seats Republicans will be defending that year. A PDF of the full briefing is available for download here.

Primary Sources