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January 23, 2006
Svengali Speaks
In Saturday's Washington Post, Dan Balz covered a rare occurrence these days -- a public appearance by White House Deputy Chief of Staff and George W. Bush political guru Karl Rove.
Readers may recall that Mr. Rove has been a bit "underwater" of late, dealing with an ongoing investigation by special prosecutor Fitzgerald into his possible involvement in the Valerie Plame/CIA leak case, in addition to continuing to fulfill his regular White House duties. Mr. Rove has (wisely in our judgment) kept a low public profile in recent months, as his attorneys seek to absolve him of any wrongdoing in the Plame matter. Mr. Fitzgerald has not yet decided whether or not to indict Mr. Rove.
Mr. Rove surfaced last Friday to address the winter meeting of the Republican National Committee, and offered some very interesting comments in making clear he is still very much the mastermind of Republican national strategy. Legal trouble or no, Karl Rove remains a powerful force in American politics.
Mr. Rove highlighted the basic GOP strategy for success in this fall's midterm election -- continuing to press the issues of national security and the war against terrorism to Republican advantage. Democrats dismiss this strategy at their peril.
Despite predictions of GOP slippage in the last two election cycles, Mr. Rove has beaten the odds and expanded Republican advantages in Congress, not to mention getting a president reelected. An effective weapon against Democrats in both cycles was painting them as soft on terrorism and national security. True or not, the tactics yielded results.
To be sure, 2006 is not 2002 or 2004. The American public has grown increasingly weary of, and impatient with the situation in Iraq. Nearly four and a half years have passed since the tragedy of 9/11 -- memories and a sense of urgency fade, it's human nature. But Democrats should be very careful.
It is simply not enough, for example, to condemn illegal wiretapping and spying against American citizens, though such condemnation is appropriate. Democrats must offer solutions to better monitor suspected terrorists on U.S. soil (perhaps by strengthening and streamlining the FISA court's authority), as well as protecting our civil liberties.
Corruption is surely an effective issue for Democrats to run on in 2006, but should be one of many. If Mr. Rove and his team are able to once again put Democrats on their heels on national security and terrorism issues, they are in trouble. Sorry folks, your average person will take a corrupt Congressman if they don't trust the other guy to protect them from Al Qaeda.
Again, Karl Rove certainly has his troubles -- legal, historical (2nd term presidents usually do poorly in the midterm election), and with the overall mood of the electorate. (Witness the shocking result in last week's special election for Texas State House District 48 in Travis County.) But misunderestimate him at your peril.
Posted by houtopia at January 23, 2006 05:56 PM