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Monday Late: Rove highlights
posted at 2007-12-04 03:14 | Last modified 2007-12-04 10:27
Former presidential advisor Karl Rove spent a rocky 90 minutes on stage at Duke tonight. I'm sure other folks will have more comprehensive coverage, but here are some highlights.
"Bush's Brain"
Rove spent a lot of time tonight defending the policies he helped to craft. As you'd expect, the Iraq War got some airtime.
Rove softened his stance slightly on the 2002 Iraq War vote, but he still insists Congressional Democrats were pushing to hold the vote before the election. His evidence for that involves a creative interpretation of two comments made by Senator Tom Daschle in September of 2002. You can hear his whole explanation here. Note: it's a big file, and you may not understand Rove's argument any more clearly at the end of it, either.
For the record, Daschle disagrees with Rove - and so do Ari Fleischer and Andy Card, both of whom might be expected to know something about the White House's role in the timing of the vote.
Rove also contends Iraq was not the reason the GOP lost seats in the 2006 midterm elections. He says the top reason people who voted GOP in '04 voted Dem in '06 was corruption. Number 2? Earmarks. He says Iraq was way down the list at #5. (No, he didn't cite a survey. Could be internal polling numbers, but who knows?)
The moderator, Duke Poli Sci Professor Peter Feaver, pointed out that academic research doesn't support Rove's assessment. Rove dismissed it as "academic" - one of the night's running gags, but perhaps not best suited to the Duke crowd.
Other interesting moments:
Rove made light of his reputation for propagating negative strategies: "It's the Mark of Rove: if there's no evidence I did it, I did it."
Why he's not running campaigns anymore? "I want to stay married."
Who's easier to beat - Obama or Clinton? Rove says they both have significant weaknesses. Listen here.
Rove says Republican support among minority voters is "pathetic." He says the "Party of Lincoln" has "a moral obligation" to broaden its appeal to minority groups.
Best (unintentional) laugh line:
Rove: "The GOP is the party of the middle class." As a chuckle surged through the audience, even Feaver couldn't resist a dig: "I want to be part of your middle class."
Hottest exchange:
The first audience member to ask a question during the open Q&A wanted to know when Rove would stand trial for treason for his involvement in the outing of Valerie Plame.
It was the only time all night Rove really seemed rattled. Visibly angry, Rove sputtered about the "stupid civil lawsuits" filed by Plame and her husband, Joe Wilson. That exchange is here.
"Death of irony" moment:
Without a trace of self-consciousness, Rove complained that politics in DC have become too negative because it's gotten personal and nasty. He blames it on the Beltway predilection for carrying a grudge, unlike the folks down in Texas, where he says everyone shakes hands, moves on, and gets along. Hear it here.
The protesters...
Had a good time. Maybe a little too good. While the folks I talked to in the audience before the speech were largely anti-Rove, they were genuinely interested in hearing what he had to say. The first few forays by the protesters were well-received, but as the heckling got more frequent and nastier, the audience seemed to become more sympathetic toward Rove -- even cheering when he called one heckler a "kook."
Two students I talked to after the event said they felt the protests were counter-productive. Sure sounded like they were right.
Postscript
As I was leaving the auditorium, I heard a young Rove fan I'd met earlier picking a fight with a protester who picked right back. Profanity-riddled insults turned into a shouting match about money, ideology, and Iraq. Wasn't long before it became a physical altercation that ultimately had to be broken up by nearby security.
It might be an apropos end to a night with one of America's most divisive political figures. But to someone who loves politics, it's mostly just sad.
Comments? Drop me a line.
