Karl Rove, the “architect” of President George W. Bush’s election victories and one of the most feared strategists of the political right, came across as more the mild-mannered raconteur than the scourge of liberals in a nearly 90-minute conversation with an audience at the University of Toledo tonight.
Mr. Rove, 63, barely mentioned the man now in the White House, and made no comments remotely presaging the presidential contest of 2016, confining himself to a big-picture discussion, albeit from a staunchly Republican point of view.
Before the speech began about 15 students picketed in the lobby of Doermann Theatre, in University Hall, carrying signs that accused him of being a war criminal because of President Bush’s invasion of Iraq.
"We are protesting the University of Toledo's decision [to invite Mr. Rove] because of his record of war crimes in Iraq," said Shahrazad Hamdah, 21, a graduate student in higher administration.
PHOTO GALLERY: Click here for more photos from Mr. Rove’s appearance
UT political science Professor Renee Heberle distributed a flyer criticizing Mr. Rove because of her objections to the way he runs political campaigns, with what she contends is a disregard for the truth and an interest only in winning.
"I think Karl Rove has damaged our capacity to have fair and reasonable campaigns," Ms. Heberle said.
Mr. Rove told the Toledo audience that the U.S. faces three major issues after the this fall’s mid-term election: a sluggish economy, out-of-control entitlements such as health care and Social Security, and a world in which terrorists, Russia, and China are threats.
"There are going to be issues the country has to deal with no matter who wins the election," said Mr. Rove, who spoke at a podium on an otherwise empty stage at the University of Toledo’s Doermann Theater.
Heading into the Nov. 4 general election, Rove’s Republican party is aiming to take control of the now-Democratic Senate, while maintaining control of the Republican-majority House of Representatives.
"The next Congress, whether it's a Democrat or Republican Senate, the country had better come to grips with these problems because the biggest advantage we have is time. You make modest changes today, and you make [Social Security] sustainable for decades to come, but we're chewing through time," Mr. Rove said.
In referring to the economy, Mr. Rove said it took until May of this year to get back to the number of jobs the country had before the Great Recession, and he said median income is still lower than it was.
He criticized the Affordable Care Act saying, “every major promise used to sell the plan has turned out not to be true.” But he also said, “we can’t go back to the way it was before,” only that, “we need major changes in the way people utilize and pay for health care.”
Touching on a topic that has all but disappeared from public policy debates, he said energy independence is still not achieved.
"We can get all of the gas we need from the U.S., Mexico, and Canada and stop importing it from places where they hate our guts," Mr. Rove said, a line that earned him an applause interruption.
He spoke for about 20 minutes and then answered questions that the were submitted in advance.
He called for American troops to join the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, in Iraq, which is also sometimes called ISIS. While Mr. Rove applauded the president for the military steps he took last week to address the ISIL threat, he said, "you cannot degrade and destroy ISIS from 12,000 feet with bombs.“
"How are you going to take back Mosul with strategic bombing?" Mr. Rove said. He said there will have to be American-trained spotters on the ground to direct the bombing because the Iraqis can't do it.
"You're going to have to have U.S. military in the front lines or near the front lines, and they're going to have to be in harm's way. I hate to say that," Mr. Rove said.
Speaking again of political strategies at home, Mr. Rove said the GOP should strive to prevent Latinos becoming overwhelmingly Democrat the way African-Americans are.
"The idea that you have to appeal to Hispanics is absurd. You have to appeal to Texans," Mr. Rove, a graduate of the University of Texas, said in jocular response to one question.
The way to do it is emphasize fiscal responsibility, social values, and a strong defense, he said, claiming Texas Republicans enjoy 40 percent of the Latino vote.
He said Mitt Romney got 27 percent of the Latino vote nationwide in the 2012 election, but got 43 percent in battleground Ohio because "he was here so much and so often and talked about the economy so much that Latinos said he may have said that stupid thing about self-deportation but he's going to grow the economy and create jobs," Mr. Rove said.
He noted the rise of Internet news and the decline of newspaper reading, saying, ”the problem with the Internet is that it has no editors.“
The free tickets were all given out and the university had plans for providing a video connection in another room, but it was not necessary because not all the seats were filled.
Mr. Rove recalled as his toughest political decision opposing Mr. Bush’s choice of Dick Cheney, the man who was organizing his vice presidential search, to be his vice presidential candidate. He said he listed a number of political reasons why Mr. Cheney should not be selected in a phone call with Mr. Bush only to find out that the candidate had Mr. Cheney with him on a conference call.
He identified his favorite President as Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson as the ”most overrated.“
In addition to being a frequent political pundit, he is the author of Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight.
Earlier today Mr. Rove was the guest at fund-raiser of the Ohio Republican Party attended by about 40 people at the Toledo Club. Some tickets to the event went for $1,500, while others were reportedly much higher.
He had dinner with UT President Nagi Naganathan in Libbey Hall before the speech.
He is the first speaker in the 2014-2015 academic year’s Jesup Scott Honors College Distinguished Lecture Series. His fee was $25,000, according to university spokesman Jon Strunk.
In addition to leading Mr. Bush’s election campaigns in 2000 and 2004, Mr. Rove served as deputy chief of staff from 2004 to 2007, overseeing the offices of strategic initiatives, political affairs, public liaison, and intergovernmental affairs. He was deputy chief of staff for policy and coordinated the White House policy-making process.
Next up in the Distinguished Lecture Series will be Paul Begala, political strategist and former adviser to President Bill Clinton, on Jan. 21, followed by Brian Kennedy, Toledo Museum of Art director, on March 24.
First Published September 16, 2014, 2:19 a.m.
