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Rove and Plouffe Go Negative at Book Event

Old-school politicos can't help but go at it

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted May 5, 2009 9:04 AM CDT

(Newser) – Old campaign hacks never die; they just bicker at events to boost book sales. Last night Obama campaign geek-in-chief David Plouffe and Bush hatchet man Karl Rove went at it in Monterey, California, only half-playfully, the Huffington Post reports. Rove attacked Obama’s commitment to bipartisanship; shot back Plouffe, “This is like getting interview lessons from Sarah Palin.”

It shouldn't be a surprise that Plouffe and Rove didn’t get along: gaunt versus portly, reclusive versus bombastic, number-crunching versus bomb-throwing—it’s a miracle these guys didn’t explode on contact. When Rove mentioned that both have books coming out this fall, but available for order now, the Plouffe commented, “But mine will be in the non-fiction section.” Pantomiming a blow to the heart, Rove followed the campaign rulebook, and hit back. “His will be the one with lots of pictures in it.”

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

This May 10, 2007 file photo shows David Plouffe, campaign manager for Barack Obama posing in his Chicago campaign headquarters. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast,File)

In this March 24, 2007 file photo. Karl Rove prepares to address the Jackson County Lincoln Day dinner in Jackson, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

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The media really is focused on process more than it is substance. And it is focused more on controversy than it is substance. And it is focused more on the side conflicts than the central drama - Karl Rove

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Rove and Plouffe Go Negative at Book Event