With a long history of power struggles, Jeb Bush and Karl Rove find themselves bumping up against one another again as the GOP presidential candidate and the storied Republican political strategist compete for party dollars,
Politico reports.
Of the looming "crunch," Politico wrote: "As Bush intensifies fundraising for his Right to Rise super PAC, expected to reach $100 million by the end of this month, he finds himself approaching many of the same contributors as Rove, whose American Crossroads PAC is also financially dependent on many of the givers who have long supported the political causes and campaigns of the extended Bush family network."
Rove declined to discuss such a scenario when contacted by Politico.
But with Bush already enjoying record fundraising, "there is an increasing sense that the two groups are destined to clash — and that Rove’s American Crossroads, which spent $325 million on a disappointing 2012 presidential election, will ultimately be the odd man out," Politico said.
At least one top member of the Bush camp denies that bad blood exists between the two political power-brokers.
"They’re friends. They respect each other," Bush adviser Sally Bradshaw told Politico, adding that the two men had been in recent touch.
Rove, in a
March Wall Street Journal op-ed, described the importance of super PAC funding in presidential campaigns and noted that they must be well-managed. His own PAC spent $21.8 million on 2014 elections alone, according to
FEC records.
"Experienced donors understand a well-run Super PAC is a vital way to supercharge their favorite candidate’s effort. In 2016, the Super PAC may spell the difference between victory and defeat," Rove wrote.
Rove's infighting with Jeb Bush during his brother's, George W. Bush's, presidency is well-noted, Politico said, but
Rove has described the former Florida governor, among a growing list of candidates, as "the deepest thinker on our side."