Guest
Contributor
Karl Rove
Karl Rove
is an advisor to the President.
 Our
Ideas Will Prevail...
In case you missed it... Karl Rove's address to RNC
[Karl Rove] 1/24/06
Victory in
politics is the work of many hands and hearts - including those
of you in this audience. You provide much of the energy and
hard work that has made the GOP the majority Party in America.
Think how
much has been achieved by our Republican Party in the last
40 years. It has gone from a minority party with little influence
to one that is broad and inclusive, self-assured and optimistic,
forward-leaning and dominant.
Four decades
ago, the Republican Party was relegated to the wilderness -
and today Republicans control the White House, the Senate,
and the House; a majority of governorships; and in the last
several elections, more state legislative seats than in 80
years.
More importantly,
we have seen the rise of a great cause. Three Republican Presidents
and Republican Congressional majorities have achieved a tremendous
amount in two-and-a-half decades. The Cold War was won - and
today we are winning the war against Islamic fascism. Millions
of people who lived in tyranny have been liberated - and freedom
is spreading across the globe. Republicans rebuilt our national
defenses; cut taxes and spurred economic growth; ended "stagflation;" limited
government's growth; reformed welfare and insisted on accountability
and high standards in education; took important steps to protect
and strengthen marriage and the family; and stood up against
judicial activism and for constitutionalism.
But there
is much more to be done. Today I will devote my remarks to
ideas that should occupy our minds and energy in the months
ahead.
Our success
springs from our ideas. A quarter-century ago, Senator Daniel
Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat, wrote, "of a sudden, the
GOP has become a party of ideas." It was true then - and
remains true today. We are the party of ideas - and "ideas
have consequences."
Ideas - a
party's governing philosophy, should be at the heart of our
political debates - because they are a deciding factor in elections.
That was certainly the case in 2002 and 2004 - and it will
be true in 2006. The Republican Party has an agenda to run
and win on.
Let me stipulate
a few important things. Our opponents are our fellow citizens,
not our enemies. Honorable people can have honest political
differences. And we should strive for civility and intellectual
integrity in our debates.
At the same
time, Democrats and Republicans have deep differences about
our nation, where it is going, and what needs to be done to
make it stronger, better, and safer. Those differences should
be debated this year - openly, publicly, passionately.
If they are,
our ideas will prevail in the hearts and minds of Americans.
And so today I want to talk about three issues: national security,
the economy, and the courts. There are many other topics we
need to address - but these should be at the center of our
attention.
America is
at war - and so our national security is at the forefront of
the minds of Americans. President Bush has established a remarkable
record. He is winning the war against terrorism, promoting
liberty in regions of the world that have never known it, and
protecting America against attacks.
The United
States faces a ruthless enemy - and we need a commander-in-chief
and a Congress who understand the nature of the threat and
the gravity of this moment.
President
Bush and the Republican Party do. Unfortunately, the same cannot
be said for many Democrats. This past year, we have seen three
successful elections in Iraq. The Iraqi Security Forces are
increasing in size and capability. Iraq's economy is growing.
And the terrorists in Iraq are now increasingly divided and
turning on each other. In the words of the Commander of the
Multinational Corps in Iraq: "2005 has been a historic
year in Iraq, and it marks the rebirth of an ancient nation."
Yet we now
hear a loud chorus of Democrats who want us to cut- and-run
in Iraq - with one radical position being an immediate stand
down of U.S. troops in Iraq and withdrawal by the end of April.
It is important
to understand the consequences of pulling out of Iraq before
our work is done and victory is won. Abandoning our Iraqi friends
would signal the world that America cannot be trusted to keep
its word. We would undermine the morale of our military by
betraying the cause for which they have sacrificed. The tyrants
in the Middle East would laugh at our failed resolve, and tighten
their repressive grip. We would hand Iraq over to enemies who
have pledged to attack us again and again as they did on 9/11.
And the global terrorist movement would be emboldened and more
dangerous than ever. To retreat before victory has been won
would be a reckless act - and this President will not allow
it.
This is an
issue worthy of a public debate.
Another is
the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act tore down the wall that prohibited
law enforcement and intelligence authorities from sharing information
about terrorist threats. And the Patriot Act allowed federal
investigators to pursue terrorists with tools they already
used against other criminals. If a tool is good enough to use
to track down drug dealers, or organized crime, or Medicare
fraud, then it is good enough to bring terrorists to justice.
In 2001 Congress
passed this law with a large, bipartisan majority - including
a vote of 98-1 in the Senate. The Patriot Act has protected
the United States from attack and saved American lives - and
yet the Democrat leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, recently
boasted that Democrats had "killed the Patriot Act."
Republicans
want to renew the Patriot Act - and Democrat leaders take special
delight in trying to kill it. This is an issue worthy of a
public debate.
Because of
a New York Times story, our enemies now know that in the aftermath
of the September 11th attacks, President Bush authorized the
National Security Agency to intercept communications where
one of the parties is outside the United States and there is
a reasonable basis to conclude the conversation involves a
member of, or someone affiliated with, al Qaeda.
The purpose
of the NSA surveillance is to protect American lives - and
the President's actions are both legal and fully consistent
with the Fourth Amendment and the protection of civil liberties.
Congressional
leaders from both parties have been briefed more than a dozen
times regarding this program. Every 45 days or so, it undergoes
a thorough review, after which the President decides whether
to reauthorize it. Courts have consistently recognized an American
President's constitutional authority under Article II of the
Constitution to order warrantless searches. And the power to
order warrantless searches rests on years of bipartisan legal
consensus. In the words of President Clinton's Associate Attorney
General John Schmidt, "President Bush's post-Sept. 11,
2001, authorization to the National Security Agency to carry
out electronic surveillance into private phone calls and emails
is consistent with court decisions and with the positions of
the Justice Department under prior presidents ... Every president
since FISA's passage (in 1978) has asserted that he retained
inherent power to go beyond the act's terms."
Yet some
leading Democrats have made wild and reckless and false charges
against the President, and some even call for his removal from
office.
Let me be
as clear as I can: President Bush believes if al Qaeda is calling
somebody in America, it is in our national security interest
to know who they're calling and why. Some important Democrats
clearly disagree. This is an issue worthy of a public debate.
At the core,
we are dealing with two parties that have fundamentally different
views on national security. Republicans have a post-9/11 worldview
- and many Democrats have a pre-9/11 worldview. That doesn't
make them unpatriotic, not at all. But it does make them wrong
- deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong.
The economy
is a perennial election-year issue - and this year will be
no different. Americans will also have a choice between two
vastly difference approaches - and that's very good news for
Republicans. For the American economy is the strongest in the
world - and it is growing faster than any other major industrialized
country.
Our economy
grew more than 4 percent in the third quarter - above the average
in the 70s, 80s and 90s. We have added almost four-and-a-half
million jobs in just over two years. Employment is near an
all-time high. The unemployment rate is below 5 percent - below
the average in each of the past 3 decades. Core inflation remains
low. The national homeownership rate remains near a record
high. Sales of new and existing homes each reached a new record
in the third quarter of 2005. Real disposable personal income
is up. Since the start of 2003, the Dow is up more than 25
percent and the NASDAQ is up more than 50 percent.
Productivity
is also up. From 1973 to 1995, productivity in America grew
at 1.4 percent, doubling our standard of living every 50 years.
But over the past five years, productivity averaged 3.4 percent,
doubling our standard of living twice as fast. And the more
productive our workforce is, the faster incomes go up.
In 2005,
the American economy turned in a performance that is the envy
of the industrialized world - and we're heading into 2006 with
a full head of steam.
The economy's
record is important - but so are the philosophies that animate
the policies of the two parties' policies.
President
Bush believes the role of government is to create an environment
where the entrepreneurial spirit flourishes and where small
businesses can grow - where people can dream about owning their
own home and have it become a reality.
The President
doesn't believe government creates wealth; he believes that
is done by American workers, farmers, and entrepreneurs. And
the President believes the American economy grows when the
American people are allowed to keep more of their own money,
so they save and invest and spend as they see fit.
President
Bush, like President Reagan before him, is pursuing pro-growth
economic policies. President Bush has been one of history's
great tax cutting Presidents. He has cut taxes for every American
who pays taxes, and cut taxes every single year he's been in
office. He's cut taxes on income, on small businesses, on dividends,
and on capital gains. The President doubled the child credit.
He reduced the marriage penalty. And he put the death tax on
the road to extinction. These tax cuts help explain why the
economy is so strong.
The Democrat
Party, on the other hand, has an allergy to tax cuts. Sometimes
it seems as if they never found a tax cut they were for or
a tax increase they were against. Many Democrats seem to view
higher taxes as more than an economic policy; they see it as
a sign of virtue. They believe taxes should be raised in times
of prosperity and times of economic slowdown; during war and
during peace; in even years and odd ones; during days of sunshine
and days of rain. They believe every day is a good day, and
every occasion a good occasion, to raise taxes.
We Republicans
strongly dissent - and we will make our tax cutting record
an issue in the 2006 campaign.
To those
Democrats who want to take the money out of your pocket by
opposing making the tax cuts permanent, our response is: No
You Don't. To those Democrats who want to raise your taxes
in order to increase the size of government, our response is:
No You Won't. And to those Democrats who say they can spend
your money better than the American people can, our response
is: No You Can't.
Let me turn,
finally, to the Courts. Recently, the American people have
witnessed something like a national seminar on judicial philosophy.
On one side of the divide were eight Democrat Senators: Kennedy,
Biden, Leahy, Schumer, Durbin, Kohl, Feinstein, and Feingold.
On the other side of the divide were two extraordinary judges:
John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
The contest
wasn't even close. The Democrats talked a whole lot longer
- but John Roberts and Samuel Alito spoke a whole lot better.
Judge Roberts
and Judge Alito demonstrated they possess brilliant legal minds
and outstanding legal temperaments - and showed they belong,
without a doubt, on the United States Supreme Court. Right
now John Roberts serves as Chief Justice - and in a few days
Sam Alito will join him as an Associate Justice.
It's also
worth noting the old special interest playbook doesn't work
anymore. Every effort to smear the name of these good men blew
up in the face of those making the malicious charges. Some
Committee members came across as mean-spirited and small-minded
- and it left a searing impression.
For example,
in Senator Kennedy's opening statement alone, he misrepresented
Judge Alito's views in cases regarding claims of race discrimination
in employment; Judge Alito's record on executive authority
and voting rights; his membership in a Princeton alumni group;
his recusal obligations in Vanguard cases; and his judicial
record.
Ted Kennedy
attempted to smear Samuel Alito, a man of sterling character,
as a bigot. It was an ugly display - but one that backfired
in the face of Judge Alito's inquisitors. As Peggy Noonan put
it in her Wall Street Journal.com column today, "I don't
think Democrats understand that the Alito hearings were, for
them, not a defeat but an actual disaster."
The debate
now moves to the Senate floor. Judge Alito has majority support
and will be confirmed. Let us hope the debate the American
people witness is something the Judicial Committee hearings
were not - decent, fair-minded, and dignified. The American
people have seen more than enough smears, attacks, and misrepresentations
leveled against Judge Alito - one of the great legal minds
of his generation.
In Roberts
and Alito, the people saw the type of individuals President
Bush wants on the court - and they liked what they saw. Most
Americans want judges who will strictly apply the Constitution
and laws, not legislate from the bench. They want judges who
believe in self-government instead of those who are determined
to undermine it. They want judges who will stand against Judicial
Activism and for constitutionalism.
This important
debate will decide whether we treat the Constitution as the
governing charter of our nation - or whether we will treat
it as if it is made of hot wax: pliable, inconstant, and easily
changed. It will determine whether issues of enormous public
importance will be decided by the American people and their
elected representatives - or by nine lawyers in robes.
The will
of the people cannot be subverted in case after case, on issue
after issue, year after year. The public will eventually insist
on reclaiming their rights as a sovereign people - and they
will insist government return to its founding principles with
judges who do not pursue political agendas, but instead strictly
interpret and apply the Constitution.
We welcome
a fair-minded and high-minded debate about the purpose and
meaning of the courts in our lives. Our arguments will carry
the day because the force and logic and wisdom of the Founders
are on our side.
These are
challenging days for the country - but challenging days can
also be hopeful ones. These are proud and memorable days in
the history of America - and it is an extraordinary privilege
to help shape the events of our time. That is what those of
you in this room are doing.
And so let
me end where I began. Forty-two years ago, Lyndon Baines Johnson,
a Democrat and proud liberal, won the Presidency in a landslide.
Democrats held 68 Senate seats; 295 House seats; and 33 governorships.
In 2000,
George W. Bush ran against an incumbent Vice President who
had loads of national experience, a reputation as a great debater,
and with a very strong economy on his side - and yet the then-Governor
of Texas won a very close race.
In the 2002
mid-terms, President Bush and Republicans ran against history
- and prevailed. President Bush became the first President
in more than a half-century - and only the second President
ever - to have mid-term gains in both houses of Congress -
and for the first time, the party of the President captured
control of the Senate in a mid-term.
In 2004 George
W. Bush, a Republican and proud conservative, won the Presidency
for a second time, receiving the most votes in history. He
is the first President since FDR to be re-elected while his
party gained seats in the House and Senate - and the first
Republican President since 1924 to get re-elected while re-
electing Republican House and Senate majorities.
Republicans
have now won seven of the last 10 Presidential elections. They
hold 55 Senate seats; 231 House seats; and 28 governorships.
The President
and the Vice President have played indispensable roles in our
success. They have appeared at countless events on behalf of
candidates, working hard to avoid a lonely victory. They have
done everything that can reasonably be asked of them - and
they will be there again when it counts.
The GOP's
progress during the last four decades is a stunning political
achievement. But it is also a cautionary tale of what happens
to a dominant party - in this case, the Democrat Party - when
its thinking becomes ossified; when its energy begins to drain;
when an entitlement mentality takes over; and when political
power becomes an end in itself rather than a means to achieve
the common good.
We need to
learn from our successes - and from the failures of others.
As the governing party in America, Republicans cannot grow
tired or timid. We have been given the opportunity to govern;
we have to continue to show we deserve the trust of our fellow
Americans.
For decades,
Democrats were setting the agenda, the pace of change, and
the visionary goals. Republicans were simply reacting to them.
But times change - and this President and today's Republican
Party are shaping history, not trying to stop it. Together
we are articulating a compelling vision of a better world.
In late January
2001, America's new President said, "We are here to make
progress, we are not here to mark time." George W. Bush
has been true to his word. He is one of history's Consequential
Presidents. He has fundamentally recast America's national
security strategy. And he has put forward a bold domestic agenda.
In foreign
policy President Bush has earned the title as one of history's
Great Liberators - and in domestic policy he will be seen as
one of its Great Reformers. Much has been achieved - and much
more remains to be done.
Whether that
vital work gets done depends in large measure on all of you.
Our ideas will prevail only if you continue to strengthen our
grassroots efforts that can make all the difference between
victory and defeat.
In 1840 Abraham
Lincoln - America's greatest President and the first Republican
President - said this: "Organize the whole state, so that
every Whig can be brought to the polls ... divide (the) county
into small districts, and ... appoint in each a sub-committee,
... make a perfect list of all the voters and ... ascertain
with certainty for whom they will vote, ...keep a constant
watch on the doubtful voters, and ... have them talked to by
those in whom they have the most confidence, ... and on election
days see that every Whig is brought to the polls."
The world
has changed dramatically since Lincoln made this statement.
We now have sophisticated polls, complicated computers, detailed
voting databases, the internet, and more. But the basics of
winning remain what they were. We have to "make a perfect
list of all the voters" and see to it our supporters are
brought to the polls by someone they hold in confidence. That
depends on what you do, and the passion and energy you bring
to our great cause.
Nothing in
politics is foreordained. Our ideas will prevail only through
the effort and dedication and hard work of men and women like
you. The President is enormously grateful for all your efforts.
Thank you
all very much for your attention, for your support of President
Bush and the Republican Party, and above all, for your devotion
to this country.-one-
[Rove
addressed members of the RNC 1/20/06 - transcript of his
remarks as prepared for delivery.]
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