http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=arVN.IeVrbVI&refer=us
Rove Says Bush Victory May Mark Republican Dominance (Update1)
Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's election victory may
begin decades of Republican dominance in U.S. politics, Karl Rove, the
president's chief political adviser, said.
Rove, who Bush called the ``architect'' of his political campaign, likened
the Nov. 2 election to that of 1896, when voters picked Republican William
McKinley and ``realigned American politics years afterward.''
``I think the same thing will be here,'' he said on the ``Fox News
Sunday'' program. ``It depends on how Republicans act in office.''
Bush received 51 percent of the vote, the first presidential candidate to
win a majority since 1988, when his father, George H.W. Bush, was elected
to follow Ronald Reagan. Republicans also expanded their majorities in the
U.S. House and Senate. The president said Nov. 4 he will use his
``political capital'' from the victory to push for overhauling federal
income tax laws and the Social Security system.
Democrat Barack Obama, who won election to the Senate from Illinois, said
the U.S. is not as divided as the vote tallies suggest. Democrats can make
gains if they ``present a proactive agenda and vision for the country and
not simply run against something,'' he said on NBC's ``Meet the Press''
program.
Republican Success
Republicans won because they were more successful in talking about
``values and morality'' and conflating the issues of terrorism and Iraq,
Obama, one of two Democrats to take a Senate seat from the Republicans,
said.
In the next session of Congress, Republicans will have an edge in the
Senate of 55 to 44 with one independent, and 231 of the 435 seats in the
House. Rove said his party must make progress on its agenda to preserve
the gains.
``There are no permanent majorities in American politics,'' Rove said on
the NBC program. ``They last for about 20 or 30 or 40, or, in the case of
the Roosevelt coalition, 50 or 60 years, and then they disappear. But
would I like to see the Republican Party be the dominant party for
whatever time history gives it the chance to be? You bet.''
Following the presidential victory by Republican McKinley with 51 percent
of the vote in 1896, Republicans won six of the next eight presidential
elections. They also held a congressional majority for all but six years
of that span.
Democrats returned to dominate after the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt
in 1932 in the wake of the Great Depression.
Surveys of voters after they cast ballots showed that 22 percent
considered ``moral values'' the top issue at stake in the election, more
than named the economy, Iraq or terrorism.
Amendment
Rove said Bush ``absolutely'' will pursue a constitutional amendment that
would ban same-sex marriage. Bush supports letting states make laws that
would give same-sex partners visitation rights in hospitals and
inheritance rights, he said.
``Marriage is a very important part of our culture and our society,'' Rove
said. ``If we want to have a hopeful and decent society, we ought to aim
for the ideal. And the ideal is that marriage ought to be and should be a
union of a man and a woman. And we cannot allow activist judges to
overturn that.''
Another area where Bush will influence U.S. politics is in judicial
appointments, including the Supreme Court. Chief Justice William
Rehnquist, 80, is being treated for thyroid cancer and there are four
justices in their 70s or 80s.
`Impartial Umpires'
The president believes judges should be ``impartial umpires,'' Rove said,
and Bush will seek to appoint judges who ``strictly interpret the
Constitution.'' He said there is no ``litmus test'' to only appoint judges
who oppose abortion.
Any appointment is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Republican
Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who was re-elected on Nov. 2, said
last week the Senate was unlikely to confirm judges that would overturn
the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that permits women to have abortions. Bush
opposes the ruling, and religious groups that back him have called for it
to be overturned.
James Dobson, founder of the advocacy group ``Focus on the Family,'' said
on ABC's ``This Week'' program that Specter ``is a problem and he must be
derailed.''
Specter, who is in line to be chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
said on CBS's ``Face the Nation'' that his comment reflected the
``political fact'' that Republicans, with 55 seats in the chamber, are
five votes short of the 60 needed to prevent Democrats from blocking
nominations through unlimited debate, a tactic known as a filibuster.
Specter, who backs a woman's right to have an abortion, said his critics
were ``the same people who came to Pennsylvania from all over the country
to try to defeat me in the primary election.''
``And they were unsuccessful,'' he said. ``They do not like my
independence.''
Rove said Specter promised that ``every one of the president's nominees
would receive a prompt hearing, a vote in the committee within a
reasonable period of time, and that his appellate nominees would all be
brought to the floor for an up-or- down decision on the floor.''
``Senator Specter's a man of his word, and we'll take him at his word,''
Rove said on Fox.
Rove Says Bush Victory May Mark Republican Dominance (Update1)
Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's election victory may
begin decades of Republican dominance in U.S. politics, Karl Rove, the
president's chief political adviser, said.
Rove, who Bush called the ``architect'' of his political campaign, likened
the Nov. 2 election to that of 1896, when voters picked Republican William
McKinley and ``realigned American politics years afterward.''
``I think the same thing will be here,'' he said on the ``Fox News
Sunday'' program. ``It depends on how Republicans act in office.''
Bush received 51 percent of the vote, the first presidential candidate to
win a majority since 1988, when his father, George H.W. Bush, was elected
to follow Ronald Reagan. Republicans also expanded their majorities in the
U.S. House and Senate. The president said Nov. 4 he will use his
``political capital'' from the victory to push for overhauling federal
income tax laws and the Social Security system.
Democrat Barack Obama, who won election to the Senate from Illinois, said
the U.S. is not as divided as the vote tallies suggest. Democrats can make
gains if they ``present a proactive agenda and vision for the country and
not simply run against something,'' he said on NBC's ``Meet the Press''
program.
Republican Success
Republicans won because they were more successful in talking about
``values and morality'' and conflating the issues of terrorism and Iraq,
Obama, one of two Democrats to take a Senate seat from the Republicans,
said.
In the next session of Congress, Republicans will have an edge in the
Senate of 55 to 44 with one independent, and 231 of the 435 seats in the
House. Rove said his party must make progress on its agenda to preserve
the gains.
``There are no permanent majorities in American politics,'' Rove said on
the NBC program. ``They last for about 20 or 30 or 40, or, in the case of
the Roosevelt coalition, 50 or 60 years, and then they disappear. But
would I like to see the Republican Party be the dominant party for
whatever time history gives it the chance to be? You bet.''
Following the presidential victory by Republican McKinley with 51 percent
of the vote in 1896, Republicans won six of the next eight presidential
elections. They also held a congressional majority for all but six years
of that span.
Democrats returned to dominate after the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt
in 1932 in the wake of the Great Depression.
Surveys of voters after they cast ballots showed that 22 percent
considered ``moral values'' the top issue at stake in the election, more
than named the economy, Iraq or terrorism.
Amendment
Rove said Bush ``absolutely'' will pursue a constitutional amendment that
would ban same-sex marriage. Bush supports letting states make laws that
would give same-sex partners visitation rights in hospitals and
inheritance rights, he said.
``Marriage is a very important part of our culture and our society,'' Rove
said. ``If we want to have a hopeful and decent society, we ought to aim
for the ideal. And the ideal is that marriage ought to be and should be a
union of a man and a woman. And we cannot allow activist judges to
overturn that.''
Another area where Bush will influence U.S. politics is in judicial
appointments, including the Supreme Court. Chief Justice William
Rehnquist, 80, is being treated for thyroid cancer and there are four
justices in their 70s or 80s.
`Impartial Umpires'
The president believes judges should be ``impartial umpires,'' Rove said,
and Bush will seek to appoint judges who ``strictly interpret the
Constitution.'' He said there is no ``litmus test'' to only appoint judges
who oppose abortion.
Any appointment is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Republican
Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who was re-elected on Nov. 2, said
last week the Senate was unlikely to confirm judges that would overturn
the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that permits women to have abortions. Bush
opposes the ruling, and religious groups that back him have called for it
to be overturned.
James Dobson, founder of the advocacy group ``Focus on the Family,'' said
on ABC's ``This Week'' program that Specter ``is a problem and he must be
derailed.''
Specter, who is in line to be chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
said on CBS's ``Face the Nation'' that his comment reflected the
``political fact'' that Republicans, with 55 seats in the chamber, are
five votes short of the 60 needed to prevent Democrats from blocking
nominations through unlimited debate, a tactic known as a filibuster.
Specter, who backs a woman's right to have an abortion, said his critics
were ``the same people who came to Pennsylvania from all over the country
to try to defeat me in the primary election.''
``And they were unsuccessful,'' he said. ``They do not like my
independence.''
Rove said Specter promised that ``every one of the president's nominees
would receive a prompt hearing, a vote in the committee within a
reasonable period of time, and that his appellate nominees would all be
brought to the floor for an up-or- down decision on the floor.''
``Senator Specter's a man of his word, and we'll take him at his word,''
Rove said on Fox.