Last night on the BillO show, Rove was being interviewed about the fire he’s come under from conservatives with his new SuperPac that will be targeting Tea Party candidates in the primaries. One of the first things Rove said, in response to an audio clip of Levin saying he doesn’t remember Rove back when he was campaigning for Reagan in ’76 and ’80, was this:
For Mr. Levin, I was the director of the Texas campaign for Ronald Reagan in the fall of 1980 and was appointed by President Reagan to sit on the White House Fellows selection panel. I didn’t meet him. He didn’t meet me. But he wanted to know where the heck I was then. Well that’s where I was.
Note he said “in the fall of 1980”. That’s important, because according to Reagan Biographer Craig Shirley, there’s no evidence that Rove ever worked for Reagan as he never came across Rove’s name in connection with Reagan at all. But even more than that, Shirley reveals that Rove was a supporter Ford in ’76 and was on Texas Gov. Clement’s staff in 1980 who didn’t even back Reagan until after he won the nomination:
In 1976, as Chairman of the College Republicans, Rove was for Gerald Ford over Governor Reagan, as was all of the Republican National Committee.
The 1980 Texas campaign for Ronald Reagan was run by Ernie Angelo and the Field Director was Rick Shelby. Gary Hoitsma ran the media for Reagan in Texas in 1980.
In fact, Mr. Rove’s own bio on his website says he was on Governor Clements staff in 1980 and Clements was not on board with Reagan until after Detroit convention.
So basically, Rove didn’t support Reagan in ’76 and only supported Reagan in 1980 in the fall, after he had already won the Republican nomination. No wonder he didn’t meet Mark Levin. So for him to pretend that he was some big-time Reagan supporter seems a pretty big stretch. He was forced to support Reagan just as many of us were forced to support Romney this last go ’round.
Click over to read the entire letter from Craig Shirley and more at the Washington Examiner.