In the Right

So you're sitting there in your campaign headquarters one day and out of the blue, the phone rings, and the guy on the other end says, "Marco, it's Karl. Long time, no talk. Happy to see you're still leading the GOP outreach to the Hispanic community. Glad you're running against that big-spending, Obama-loving liberal [Charlie] Crist. I'm sending you a grand."

Do you say: a) "Why, that's terrific, Karl, I can't wait to share that with Chuck Todd over at NBC. He'll get a kick out of it," b) "Karl, that's very gracious of you. Could you bring it in a brown paper bag and leave it at the door?" or c) "Karl who?"

On first glance, it appears the answer is something close to a) -- because NBC's Chuck Todd reported it earlier today.

But "close to" and "is" are not the same thing. Because I'm not Chuck Todd (dammit), I'm not sure how Chuck Todd came by the information he reported, and I can think of at least three ways he got his hands on that scoop: a) Team Rubio gave it to him in hopes its publication would be a positive to the Rubio campaign; b) Team Crist found out about it and gave it to Todd, in hopes its publication would be a negative to the Rubio campaign; c) Rove himself, or an agent of Rove, gave the information to Todd, in hopes its publication would be a positive to Rove.

*(These three alternatives necessarily do not include option d) Someone who knew about the contribution was out drinking with Chuck Todd and inadvertently let it slip somewhere between his fourth and fifth Grey Goose and Tonic.)

If Team Rubio thinks knowledge that he got a contribution from Karl Rove will help him with conservatives, one of two things is true: a) Team Rubio does not know what inside-the-Beltway conservative leaders think of Rove these days; b) Team Rubio knows perfectly well what inside-the-Beltway conservative leaders think of Rove, and yet believes that those negatives are outweighed by the positives still felt for Rove by outside-the-Beltway grass-roots conservatives whose information level is far lower -- and who take their cues from the likes of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, where Rove is still held in much higher regard.

If the former is true, Rubio is about to find out what inside-the-Beltway conservative leaders think of Rove these days.

If the latter is true, Rubio is still about to find out what inside-the-Beltway conservative leaders think of Rove these days. He's just not going to care as much.

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