Ron Paul-Hater a Major Force Behind Mitt Romney

Karl Rove has a difficult time even saying Ron Paul's name on national television. He's a nasty establishment insider Republican operative. He likely spends hours thinking of ways to derail the Ron Paul movement.

Now word comes that he has raised massive amounts of money that he will use to bend Mitt Romney to his liking. Reuters has the details:

Perhaps no one, besides Romney himself, will have a greater influence on the course of the Republican presidential campaign this fall than Rove, the brash, often-controversial architect of Bush's two successful bids for the White House... This year, thanks to the American Crossroads "Super PAC" organization that he co-founded, Rove will have vast resources to fertilize Romney's campaign: a massive wallet, one of the loudest megaphones in conservative media, and close ties to Romney's campaign...

In an interview with Reuters, Rove described his vision for Crossroads, which he founded with his friend Ed Gillespie in 2010. Crossroads - which has received seven-figure donations from several wealthy Republicans - hopes to spend $300 million on this election.

Beyond helping Romney match Democratic President Barack Obama's vast fundraising effort, Rove said he wants Crossroads to be a permanent figure on the political landscape - a big-money, independent group that works in concert with the Republican Party on strategy and involves its most influential donors...


Romney's camp is stacked with people who have worked with Rove. This month, Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, left Crossroads to join Romney as a senior adviser.

Another figure who straddles the worlds of Romney and Rove is Carl Forti, who has been dubbed "Karl Rove's Karl Rove." Forti is a political director at Crossroads and launched the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future. He was political director for Romney's unsuccessful presidential bid in 2008.

Romney's chief of staff is Beth Myers, the former Massachusetts governor's right-hand woman since 2002. Myers worked with Rove in Texas campaigns three decades ago, and now is overseeing Romney's search for a vice presidential running mate.