Conservative activist Brent Bozell accuses Karl Rove of “ruining the GOP” in a new piece for Politico Magazine. The attack is the latest salvo in an ongoing war between Rove and numerous right-wing figures who consider him insufficiently conservative.

Bozell, who founded the conservative Media Research Center and chairs the conservative group ForAmerica, takes aim at Rove's recent advice for helping Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections. According to Bozell, “Rove has never cared about conservatism and has spent his entire career opposing any Republican who might be successful in promoting or implementing a conservative agenda.” 

He also claims Rove “kneecapped tea party candidates in 2010,” and asserts, “It's now time conservatives make sure Karl Rove no longer has any influence on their party.”

Bozell's anger at Rove and his attempt to quell his outsized influence in the GOP is nothing new. Last year, after the announcement of Rove's “Conservative Victory Project” -- a new political group that reportedly intended to “recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts” -- Bozell and several other conservative activists wrote a letter discouraging donors from giving money to the new group. According to the letter, in the 2012 elections, Rove had “squandered hundreds of millions of dollars in what were arguably the most inept campaign advertising efforts ever.”

And Bozell wasn't alone in recoiling at the formation of Conservative Victory Project. Other major conservatives, including several of Rove's Fox News colleagues, also called foul, labeling the group “absolutely repulsive” and calling Rove a “total loser” and a “propagandist.” Whether it was due to conservative backlash or not, the group is seemingly defunct.

As Bozell's latest column indicates, conservative fury with Rove dates back years, including a number of acrimonious fights over people like Sarah Palin and former Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell. Conservative media figures have at various points called Rove "absolutely useless," "an effete sore loser," and someone with a "country club attitude." 

As part of his attack on Rove, Bozell writes, “This is the same man Media Matters has dubbed the Republican 'voice of reason.'” While the 2011 piece in question does call Rove “Fox News' unlikely voice of reason,” it's hardly complimentary of him. The point was that Rove -- whom the piece also labeled a “shameless political hack” with a “storied history of dishonesty” -- was standing out at Fox News for throwing cold water on “joke candidate” Donald Trump's non-existent 2012 presidential run while the rest of the network cheered him on, not that Rove was a fount of wisdom.