Rove Says Bachmann ‘Did Nothing’

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Veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove wasn’t exactly lamenting Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) decision to not seek re-election, saying Sunday that the Minnesota congresswoman “did nothing” in her role as the tea party’s leader on Capitol Hill.

“Actually, it will be an opening for the tea party,” Rove said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.” “Michele Bachmann was the chairman of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus, and in that position did nothing. Now the position is open, someone next year will accept the chairmanship of it, and they may do something with it and we’ll see.”

Rove also said that Bachmann’s announcement bolsters the GOP’s hopes of securing her seat in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District. Bachmann was looking at a re-match in 2014 against Democratic hotel mogul Jim Graves, who she narrowly defeated last year.

“But it also guarantees that that seat, which had been thought to be very much up for grabs—she barely won last time around, ran well behind Mitt Romney—is now safely Republican. The Democrat who ran last time around, a self-funder named Graves, already announced. After Bachmann pulled out, he pulled out as well.

Rove’s counterpart on the show’s panel, President Barack Obama’s former top strategist David Plouffe, sang a different tune, admitting that Democrats will miss Bachmann “terribly.”

h/t Mediaite 

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