A Young Karl Rove plots for College Republicans [VIDEO -- 1972]

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 9:47 AM on March 29, 2007.

At the end of this 1972 Dan Rather newscast on the Nixon Republican machine, we see a young Karl Rove talking about bringing the youth into the GOP fold.

As many have pointed out, Rove was already knee-deep in the dirty politics that would become his signature all these years later... from Wikipedia:

Karl Rove and the Dixon campaign incident

In the fall of 1970, Karl Rove, current Bush Administration Deputy Chief of Staff, used a false identity to enter the campaign office of Alan J. Dixon, who was running for Illinois State Treasurer, and stole 1000 sheets of paper with campaign letterhead. Rove then printed fake campaign rally fliers promising "free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing," and distributed them at rock concerts and homeless shelters, with the effect of disrupting Dixon's rally (Dixon eventually won the election). Rove's role would not become publicly known until August 1973. Rove told the Dallas Morning News in 1999, "It was a youthful prank at the age of 19 and I regret it."

Now go watch Rove rap. Tears form; of what sort? I won't know for weeks. Maybe months...

Tagged as: karl rove, dan rather

Evan Derkacz is an AlterNet editor. He writes and edits PEEK, the blog of blogs.