let me tell you how i think karl rove views this. let me try to go into karl rove's mind with my hazmat suit. karl rove would probably say that you're focused on winning primaries. he's focused on winning elections. he would say that you guys are going to put up candidates who are -- will pass anyone's purity test like sharon ingle, my friend, christine o'donnell mr. mourdock, he will put up guys who could get elected although after last november, i'm not sure he can make that claim. what do you say to that claim that the tea party is marginalizing the party by getting unelectable candidates winning primaries? >> because it is not the tea party. the reason why we keep losing as republicans is because we keep going down the path of we keep nominating moderates and moderates don't win. why are we going to keep trying to sit there and listen to people unfortunately like governor jindal that say we need to move more to the left and become more like the democrats and appeal to all of these demographics. that's what's causing us to lose el

for karl rove the accumulation of power by tricking these people. you get the sense he doesn't necessarily respect the base. >> young lady, you've done it again. teaching me this business i'm in. what is terrestrial radio, as opposed to satellite. >> radio as opposed to satellite, xm as opposed to -- >> when is the first time -- clean up here, fes up, when is the first time you used that term in your life? >> only because i used to be in the radio business. you call it terrestrial. >> like et, terrestrial radio. >> karl rove needs a reason to exist, needs -- >> i know french. >> i know you know french. >> he needs a reason to exist. the tea party has gotten their, you know, their market share of the republican product. so he needs -- >> okay. both you guys, tell me this, what percentage of the regular voting republican party, the party that voted for w., we're going to learn something tonight, joy, you first, what percentage of the regular republican vote, the people who vote republican for congress and president, is tea party oriented, hard right?

karl rove is out there fighting it. jim vandehei wrote in politico, it's not just karl rove wanting to get rid of the crazies. the party as a whole does. one high profile republican strategist who obviously refused to have his name in order to avoid inflaming -- >> it is feehery. >> it wasn't me. >> said there is a deliberate effort by party leaders to marginalize the cranks, haters, and bigots. there's a lot of underbrush that needs to be cleaned out. republican after republican told us the party dodged a bullet with mitt romney's loss. if he had squeaked in, this vital reboot would have been delayed. >> wasn't that mike murphy? >> it was feehery. >> let's speak for your party, john. so many people in your party think you have to do a better job of proctoring who gets the nominations and don't just leave it to the grassroots. your view? >> well, this is obviously a pretty divisive issue -- >> where are you? >> i don't like cranks and crazy people. i want winners. i want people who can win. now, that being said, you got

look at the rap sheet on this guy, karl rove. let's go down memory lane and remind ourselves at least, if the right wing doesn't, of some of karl rove's greatest hits. as a top adviser to george w. bush, he sold the war in iraq to everybody it seems. he got off scot-free even though he was at the center of the cia leak scandal. walked from that one. the architect couldn't help a republican majority in the 2006 midterms bring the democrats back to power in both the house and senate for the first time. he blew it all on the table. and in 2012 the sunlight foundation reported that crossroads had a 1%, $1 in $100, return on its election investment. so karl rove failed putting together a republican realignment, failed in holding the house and the white house and the senate, lost all that. got involved in the cia leak case, somehow got through that where scooter did get caught and the president -- actually the vice president should have been caught. that's not a good investment, joy, and yet there he is out there telling the republican

karl rove attacks ashley judd again. and bieber mania is alive and well here at 30 rock in new york city. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. the northeastern portion of the united states is still recovering from the devastation of sandy, and tonight the region is being hit by another powerful storm. the massive nor'easter could be one of the worst in history. well, you've got governors declaring states of emergency in new york, connecticut, and massachusetts, along with rhode island and maine. in boston, the city is the epicenter of two storms which could break boston's all-time snowstorm record of 27.6 inches. up and down the northeastern coast, between 1 and 3 feet of snow is expected to fall. forecasters warned of blizzard conditions including wind gusts of up to 75 miles per hour. this could cause widespread power outages this evening. the national guard was activated in states of connecticut, massachusetts, new york, of course to help with emergenc

i don't remember karl rove. >> karl rove is a wheeler dealer. he's playing right into the hands of the democrat party. >> bottom line is that they zront a better record at picking winners than the quote, unquote amateur tea party types do. and when they pick winners, what do we end up winning? we get squishy republican moderates. >> bill: joining us now is karl rove. i don't know why they're upset. you just want republicans to win, right? >> yes. yes. right. >> well, look. i was the director of the texas campaign for ronald reagan, fall of 1980 appointed by president reagan to sit on white house fellows selection panel. i didn't meet him but he wanted to know where the heck i was then, well that, is where i was. let's be clear about what this is about. conservative victory project is an outgrowth of desire donors of american cross roads to get involved in primaries. rush said we zront a better roord than the tea party. i've been involved and gave money to marco rubio early in his campaign. i gave money early to pat toomey. went and gave a speech

that's kind of how i view karl rove. i don't think he is done. i think he still has too many connections. >> i'll concede. ed, i will concede when i wrote the kicker to that piece and made that statement, you know, if you take that in isolation, it sounds pretty conclusive and final. i know karl viewed it that way. but i take your point. >> quickly, howard, how unpopular is mitch mcconnell in kentucky? could he be in trouble? >> well, put it this way -- first all, the republican base doesn't really like him. partly because he is from louisville. partly because he is an insider in washington. he has never been wildly popular

. >>> feeling sorry for karl rove yet? he is having a lot of trouble getting republicans to listen to him these days. maybe he shouldn't have wasted 100 million of their dollars on the last election. >> will the republican change the substance of their position? >> we need to do better. >> what's going on inside the republican party? >> they've gotten spanked a couple of times. >> better conservative candidates and win. >> on the official republican side, you have karl rove. >> karl rove has a new super pac to get rid of candidate like steve king. >> some people believe to get rid of todd akin. >> the female body has ways to shut that down. >> the republican party ought to split. >> better conservative candidates and win. >> but they are not walking the walk. >> washington has to deal with its spending problem. >> the looming budget war. >> i've had enough of it. time to act. >> we've seen the republicans playing game. >> i love nancy pelosi. >> playing games with the budget. >> they recognize that the sequester is a bad i

a day later, karl rove tried to backtrack. in a statement, rove said, i was ask fundamental i could see a republican presidential candidate supporting gay marriage in 2016, and i said i could. i was not asked if i could see the republican presidential candidate or the gop presidential nominee." as for the latest "washington post" poll showing the country's support of marriage equality at an all-time high, the religious right's gary bauer sounded a familiar note. >> do you worry that this only puts the republican party further out of touch with the mainstream of american voters? >> no, i'm not worried about it, because the polls are skewed, chris. >> the polls are skewed. not but five months ago, republican poll deniers were in full swing. and we know how far that got them. let us bring in jonathan turley, a professor of constitutional law at george washington university, jonathan capehart, opinion writer for "the washington post," and ryan grim, washington bureau chief for the "huffington post." ryan, i can't believe we're tal

karl rove is understanding how to do the infrastructure and the al

karl rove was allowed stay. still bush's brain has been facing heat since his super pact said they would strain the tea from the party, and determine that less in -- the new strategy was met with mixed reviews. karl rove is a total loser. money given to him might as well be thrown down the drain, wrote the donald. radio host mark levin also weighed in. >> karl rove, let me tell you something. you're despised by the grassroots, and let me tell your donors something. stop wasting your money." >> never one to sit on the sidelines, the rush-inator said some of the strong-arm tactics were backfiring. >> the newspaper article about karl rove's intention is only serving to unite the tea party in ways even now it hasn't been. right now there is a unity and an energy maybe just short of a rebirth going on." >> that's right. a rebirth of the tea party. as a reminder, a few months ago karl rove was the evil architect trying to take down president obama. way, way, way back in september obama campaign manager jim messina wro

karl rove was the biggest looser of 2012. he lost 10 out of 12 senate seats, lost 4 out of 9 of their house seats, donald trump accused him of blowing $400 million in this, so why would anybody trust karl rove with another dime, number 1? and the real question that i have is how much money is karl rove making out of this deal? i think this is another scam to fatten karl rove's pockets. >> jennifer: that's a really important point that these sort of advisors to these pacs he is probably gets some kind of percentage or direct salary that he is benefitting from enormously. >> exactly. >> jennifer: jason should democrats worry about this or should they exploit this conservative victory project? >> you know, a wise confederate general once said don't get anywhere near a circular firing squad. it's not wise to let the democrats get anywhere near this. and the reality is not only is karl rove simply lining his pockets, but this is the difficult birthing process that any party goes through when they lost consecutive elections. just l

there's a big difference between karl rove and ham rove. jimmy put up the pictures. [ laughter ] no, jimmy -- [cheers and applause] jimmy, no, not two ham roves, one of them should be karl. thank you, thank you. they are totally different. but, okay, because easter is coming up i want to ask everybody to make sure that the nice juicy ham you are cutting into is not karl rove. [ laughter ] there's an easy test. before you slice into your ham, ask it if it ever put anti-gay marriage legislation in swing states to tip the scales in the 2004 presidential election. if it answers yes, that could be karl rove. [ laughter ] actually if it answers at all, better not eat it at all. [ laughter ] and karl, to avoid any confusion with ham rove for the next week or so, please avoid the urge to cover your face with pineapple rings. [cheers and applause] [laughter] >> stephen: fight it. fight it. in an unrelated note, karl, if you are not doing anything this sunday, why not come over to my house for easter dinner? it's a potluck, but there's no need for to

>> karl rove is a smart guy. i usually -- i think -- >> did he think he could bully them out of their prediction? >> i thought he was stunned. i think we were all stunned, and then you know what -- >> you know the guy personally. i thought he went into the room thinking he could talk the analysts out of the results. his willpower would somehow overwhelm them, megan and the other guys. >> i remember sitting at a table in 1990 in new hampshire talking about -- filling out a napkin about why with great sets of numbers george bush was going to win the new hampshire primary. he lost the new hampshire primary. karl wins some, and karl loses some. >> no question. >> but you're right, the force of his personality, the force of sort of the intellect and the reputation allows him a lot of times to bully folks. he's certainly tried to bully me. >> well, bullies are almost like, you know, sonny liston, they can't lose until they can't win, you know what i mean? liston couldn't be beaten as a boxer until he couldn't win again

and karl rove can't organize it. neither can any of the other people who played with that power but who now can't control it. >> so those who rode the tiger are now inside the tiger. >> exactly. >> don't forget, the chamber of commerce, at very times, made common cause with the antigovernment, anti-tax, anti-everything. they were willing to get in bed with him at certain points. and now they're paying for it. and karl is trying to unwind what he's wound. >> he's like a track tout. i used to go and after the races were over, they would show you who they'd recommend you'd bet on. it was always the winners that pass out the free picks. i would have bet on this guy. that's rove out there saying i would have had all of these winners picked, we would have won all of these general elections and now everybody realizes we're going to go over it in a minute. but your thoughts? >> now, i toe ttally agree with howard. your analogy there. the problem for karl is we have all the betting slips. his two organizations, american cross

. >>> plus, karl rove launches an assault on ashley judd to protect his pal mitch mcconnell. >> her own grandmother says she is a hollywood liberal. >> we'll tell you why old turd blossom is so desperate. fox news will always have a steve doocy. >> face-lift perhaps? >> good to have you with us, folks. thanks for watching. this opening story tonight, i'm telling you, i'm going to try to maintain my poise here. this should be a day of celebration for conservatives as they continue to chip away at the backbone of america. >> we're announcing that we are moving forward with a change to our national delivery schedule. the postal service delivery schedule will consist of six days of package delivery and five days of mail delivery. >> this story is everything i don't like about republicans. the slow death of the united states post office. folks, its under way. and americans just seem to sit back and well, let's accept it. that's the way it is. this once proud american institution will no longer deliver first class mail on saturday starting this summer. aren't we proud? moving forward now. and

look, karl rove is -- this is sort of classic karl rove where on the face of it, it looks like what he's doing is, as you suggest, you know, very sort of self-beneficial. he ends up being someone who benefits from this, but at the same time it's something, as i said before, it's something that the republican party needs to do. the republican party cannot afford to have steve israel run for senate and lose -- >> you mean steve king? >> say that again? i'm sorry, steve king. >> steve israel, democrat -- >> yes. >> karl rove likes to pretend it was todd akin and richard mourdock who lost the election but wasn't it george w. bush, the monster to karl rove's dr. frankenstein who lost the election for republicans? >> well, he certainly did his part. i would -- as did karl rove. >> exactly. >> wouldn't you love to be in the meetings with donors when the donor says tell us what you've been up to recently, karl? what races have you won? that's going ton an interesting meeting. more importantly, one of the things i find so interesting, there's an element of chickens coming home to roost because wh

here's the situation with karl rove. he has gotten himself crossways with the conservatives in the party saying he wants to protect the mainstream candidates. he needs to throw them a bone right now. he's trying to say, it's okay, i like guys like ranld paul. i just don't like that woman who was a witch in delaware. the problem here, of course, is this, by saying rand paul is the guy we liked, yes, all of those things you're talking about, rand paul gave a speech stating that there wasn't a single action in the last 40 years that he would have approved of. so is that the republican party that karl rove is looking for? i doubt it. >> now, maria theresa, newt gingrich yesterday declared the gop has a technology problem. listen to this. >> they are a super bowl team that we ought to respect deeply. and we are a mid-level college team. you can't just go out and buy this. this is a fundamental rethinking of how you relate to the american people. >> now, let me get this right. i'm trying to understand the republican brain, mar

has karl rove declared war on the tea party? if he has, it's a real bad idea. >>> also tonight, the stock market takes its biggest correction of the year across the board. some are blaming spain. nonsense. i say buy the correction back. profits are the mother's milk of stocks and theorizing. >>> you saw it last night. get this. beyonce met solyndra in new orleans. the greenest super bowl in history delivered a 35-minute power outage. who will take the rap? "the kudlow report" begins right now. >>> first up tonight republicans lost big last november. now they're trying to come up with a new unified branding message. here's karl rove declaring war against the tea party. heck, why not a firing squad? it might be easier. it might be cheaper. i don't get this at all. here now with the story, cnbc contributor robert costa from the national review. robert, what is this? what's going on here? >> it's a big story, larry. karl rove one of the top republican strategists in the country is upset with republican primary voters. he looks at 20

and so it's very easy for karl rove to saunter in and say oh, well, we'll stop this. you can't fight something with nothing. he did not back a single winning candidate last year. so what is going to happen? that is the republican party. that's why they win primaries, and the republican party has a more serious problem, which is that's 30% of the country that holds those views, maybe more or less. they can win primaries. they can never win national elections. but what is this republican establishment that rove represents? it's money people. but where are the voters within the republican party. it's not just tea party, it's the real base of the republican party whether they call themselves tea partiers or not. this is what they want. >> i was struck by how unified the reaction against rove was on the right. i mean, all of the influential -- all of the right-wing blogs that are influential enough that a liberal like me knows to go read them. >> right. >> all of them unified with being just disgusted with karl rove for having suggested this. it seems as though this is a v