An Evening with Karl Rove
Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Karl Rove give a talk and participate in a question-and-answer session at Rhodes College. The event had a very wide list of sponsors, from Young America's Foundation, Student Lecture Board, College Republicans, College Democrats (?) and the Political Science department. (This last probably means that the token conservative in the department went to the event.)
It was fun seeing Karl Rove again. Earlier this year he debated Howard Dean at DePauw, when he pretty much wiped the floor with poor Howard. This time Karl was on his own, so he was completely in control of the subject matter and the topics that he wanted to discuss. And it showed. He opened his talk with a tribute to both presidential candidates in 2008 elections. It was an introduction to what he wanted to talk about the most, and that is President Obama's record thus far. The timing of Karl's talk was very auspicious, as it came on a one year anniversary of Obama's taking office. And Karl wanted you to know, in no uncertain terms, that he was really unimpressed with Obama's record thus far. Especially in light of the grand promises and lofty ideals that were set in the campaign. Karl came with guns blazing, in a vintage Rove style, expounding on one point after another, providing facts, more facts, and even more facts. One thing that I really appreciate about Karl Rove is that every time listen to him I don't just get the opinion, but interesting and nontrivial information that makes you grasp things from an entirely new point of view. His talks are in fact great educational experiences. I would hope that even his most ardent opponents appreciate this aspect of his talks. Another great thing about Karl is that he is an extremely gracious, funny and personable speaker. He
The questions in the Q&A session were a mixed bag. There were few that were interesting, but there were also way too many that were just downright silly, from asking his opinion on Lady Gaga to asking him on the opinion on Bush Administration being persecuted for war crimes. The question that I submitted was not unfortunately asked. I asked for his opinion on what would have been different in the past year had Hillary Clinton become president. I think that's the question that more and more people, Democrats, Republicans and Independents, are asking themselves these days.