Republican operative Karl Rove told Fox News he agrees with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s opinion that presidential candidates should be themselves and run the same in the primaries as they do if they make it to the general election.
Bush has come under fire from more conservative members of the party, who say he insulted the base when he indicated he wouldn’t cater to them in primaries if he ultimately decided to run for president in 2016.
Rove, a longtime friend of the Bush family, told Fox News Channel's
"Hannity" on Tuesday that he is on the sidelines on allegiances for the moment, but agrees with Jeb Bush’s advice.
Rove said former President Richard Nixon was the author of the current theory that Democrats should run to the left and Republicans to the right in primaries, then move to the center in the general election.
"That may have worked at some point," Rove said, "but today that eats away at your authenticity."
The sought-after swing voters and independents won’t like it, he said.
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