Huckabee slams Rove, 'elitist' GOP establishment

Former Republican Governor and Fox News' host Mike Huckabee blasted the "country club attitude" of Republican strategist Karl Rove and other members of the "Republican establishment," as Politico reports.

Speaking to radio host Aaron Klein on Sunday, Huckabee said he was "very disappointed" that Rove and others were "so dismissive of Christine O'Donnell."

In September, Rove claimed that O'Donnell could cost Republicans a chance to take the Senate seat in Delaware because of the "nutty things" she had said and done in the past.

"Why did she mislead voters about her college education," Rove asked during an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity. "How come it took nearly two decades to pay her college bills so she could get her college degree? How did she make a living?"

"I think it's not the type of thing that helps us," continued Huckabee.

"Unfortunately, there is an elitism within the Republican establishment. And it's one of the reasons the Republicans have not been able to solidify not only the tea party movement but solidify conservatives across America because a lot of people know it is not so much about the principles of really controlling government and having responsible people in office, it's about making sure the right people get into the game to play."

Audio of the remark is is available here.

Huckabee is not the first to attest to a schism between Tea Party candidates such as Christine O'Donnell and the "Republican establishment."

"Rove came across as an effete sore loser instead of the supposedly brilliant and grounded GOP strategist that he's supposed to be," conservative blogger Michelle Malkin wrote in September. "Expect more Washington Republicans to start sounding like Tea Party-bashing libs as their entrenched incumbent friends go down."

The conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh also attacked Rove, saying he never heard Rove "so animated against a Democrat as he was against Christine O'Donnell."

"It's about, again, to be blunt, the kind of country club attitude that we're not sure there are certain people we really want as members of the club and we're not going to vote them in," said Huckabee. "And we don't mind showing up to events to put up signs and making phone calls and going door to door making those pesky little trips that we don't like to do, but we really don't want them dining with us in the main dining room."

Audio of the remark is is available here.