Rove blames Iraq war for low Bush numbers (speech at rightwing AEI)

[UpInArms]

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/14584482.htm

WASHINGTON - Presidential adviser Karl Rove blamed the war in Iraq on Monday for dragging down President Bush's job approval ratings in public opinion polls. "People like this president," Rove said. "They're just sour right now on the war."

Rove said that Bush's likeability ratings are far higher than his approval ratings. "There is a disconnect" because of the Iraq conflict, Rove told the American Enterprise Institute.

"I think the war looms over everything. There's no doubt about it," Rove said during a question-and-answer session after a speech on the economy at the conservative think tank.

Rove, who is deputy White House chief of staff and Bush's top political adviser, brushed aside a question on his own role in the federal CIA-leak investigation, saying he would not go beyond statements by his attorney. "Nice try," Rove told the questioner.

On the economy, Rove credited the president's fiscal policies, particularly a series of first-term tax cuts, for a recovery that has gone on since late 2001. "The reality is, the tax cuts have helped make the U.S. economy the strongest in the world," Rove said.

...more...

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/05/15/corn-rove/

VIDEO: David Corn Confronts Rove On Lying About Plame Leak

This morning, Karl Rove gave a speech at the American Enterprise Institute. During the question and answer session, David Corn of the Nation Magazine asked him why he fed White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan misinformation about his involvement in leaking Valerie Plame’s identity. (Rove told McClellan that he was “not involved.”) Rove refused to answer. Watch it:

<snip>

Full transcript:

CORN: David Corn from “The Nation Magazine” on a different subject. Scott McClellan told the White House press corps, many who are here today, that he had spoken to you and you were not involved in the CIA leak. Can you explain why the American public, almost two and a half years later, hasn’t been given an explanation and don’t you think it deserves one for that misinformation because it does seem you were to some degree, though maybe disputed, involved in that leak?

ROVE: My attorney Mr. Luskin made a statement on April 26th. I refer to you that statement. I have nothing more to add to it. Nice try, though.

...more...

[ixion]

1. I, for one, do not like this president

never have, never will. I remember telling my dad that this guy was bad news, way back in 1999. My premise was vehemently rejected, although I feel (tragically) vindicated. I said that he was a failed businessman who ruined everything he touched.

Isn't that where we are now?

So, I would say that, sure, the Illegal Invasion of Iraq started by George W. Dumbass is dragging his numbers down. But the 'dangerous incompetence' and the 'dictactor' and the 'liar' and the 'idiot' things sure aren't helping either.

[Arugula Latte]

4. Just curious:

How does your dad feel now?

[ixion]

8. I try to avoid talking poiltics with him anymore, because it never

accomplishes anything except us not talking for several weeks afterward. However, I'm assuming that he's still a fan of Little Lord Pissypants, as is most of the rest of my family. They somehow are able to whine and moan about the 'government', while ignoring the fact that it's their party that is in control. The coginitive dissonance is really breath-taking.

It's sad, because my dad is an otherwise intelligent person.

[coalition_unwilling]

27. Does your Dad like to read? If so, have him read

Robert Paxton's "Anatomy of Fascism" (Not explicitly anti-Bush by any means, as it is an academic treatment of Fascism in the 30s, but with many parallels to today.)

[ixion]

28. he would dismiss it out of hand, claiming it was part of the

New York intellectual elite. And this is a man with a PhD, I kid you not. :-(


You mention reading... ironically, one of his favorite authors is Charles Dickens. Go figure.

[wordpix2]

40. a Dem acquaintance said I was far left wing when he saw my Mother Jones

mags at my house. I told him it was some of the best reporting around, left or right wing, and it was investigative reporting at its finest. Sheesh. :shrug:

[xxqqqzme]

7. 'liar' doesn't help either

didn't I read that credibility was the biggest 'threat' to chuckle nuts' numbers

[Patsy Stone]

2. That took a genius to figure out?

Oy.

[bleever]

9. Apparently, hindsight is 50/50.

He's half right.

But, "People like this president"??

:rofl:


:hi:

[Patsy Stone]

13. They're pumping "happy air" into the WH, apparently.

It's infected Laura's brain also:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1189105

From that thread:

Interviewed on Fox News Sunday, Laura Bush said she did not think people were losing confidence in President George W. Bush, despite a series of polls showing support for him at its lowest point in his five-year presidency and among the lowest for any president in the past 50 years.


(Fingers in ears and...)
LALALALALALALALALALALALA! I can't hear you! LALALALALALALALA!

[stop the bleeding]

10. hard to believe I actually agree with him n/t

[Patsy Stone]

14. Even a broken clock is right

twice a day. Hi, stb!

[stop the bleeding]

15. Hello and great words of wisdom

this is an exciting week to say the least, I just hope that Champagne in my fridge gets uses.


Yum yum, lets watch Fitz roast Rove's bum ;)

[Patsy Stone]

17. I'm drinking mine anyway

:) I can always get more. To Fitz! :toast:

[stop the bleeding]

20. more words of wisdom

like Sling-Blade said "I like the way you talk mmhmmm.."

[Shipwack]

23. Yeah, me too, in some ways...

The bad thing about Iraq (from the Administration's viewpoint) is that it is seen being completely their fault. New Orleans can be spun as "Act of God meets local incompetence", the economy isn't "1929/ Depression" bad... High oil prices are the fault of the Arabs and/or Chinese, etc.

Heck, even if we had gone into Iraq, found no WMDs, and pulled out again, people would have shrugged their shoulders and mumbled half-heartedly about at least a dictator was gone. Instead, they try to build a permanent presence on a country of political quicksand. They spun tales of how easy and cheap this operation was going to be, and people remember that.

[dmkinsey]

3. "like-ability"?

Don't recall hearing that one before today

[emulatorloo]

24. many a bush voter in 04 told me they were voting for him because

" I just LIKE him!!!!!!!"

I would try to pin them down, and show them how his politicies weren't good for them or very "likeable."

But their was no swaying them -- 'I just LIKE him!!!!!!!!"

[LiberalFighter]

53. I cannot figure how anyone sane could like that jackass

[Robbien]

5. First he pushes to bomb and now he is blaming the bombing

for doing damage.
:shrug:

[hwmnbn]

6. I wonder if he pulled that bullshit ......

on Patrick Fitzgerald?

Tough talk don't mean much in prison. :evilgrin:

[ellenfl]

11. i thought this speech was cancelled because of the

pending indictment? has k-k-k-karl pulled another fast one and 'leaked' his indictment?

ellen fl

[rodeodance]

18. gawd, I hope not!!

[The Wielding Truth]

30. Weekend skitzies, I guess. Jumping to conclusions is not the usual here.

It seems so strange around here lately. The home page,even this sticker donation thing is so different. Well,let's hope it's a phase and we will settle down and post more cautiously again. We used to be more skeptical. We wanted everything verified and then backed up again.I've been guilty too of reading too quickly and not getting the full deal sometimes.Maybe we are stuck between giddy at the poll numbers and heartsick at the lack of response to remove these bullies.

[Demobrat]

12. Well DUH. He lied the country into a war

with the unspoken insinuation that the result would be cheap gas for everybody, huzzah. And didn't keep his bargain. And he's surprised people are pissed? This was supposed to be GOOD for their wallets, not bad ...

[rodeodance]

16. nominate

[Rose Siding]

19. Stopped for a fill-up lately, prince K? Visit the Gulf? So many disasters

only so much spin.

[emulatorloo]

25. Your tax dollars probably cover gas for the lovely Jag of Karl's

so why should he care.

[Inland]

21. KICKED AND RECOMMENDED!!!

[Tempest]

22. High gas prices and the economy are the biggest reasons

In polls, the Iraq war falls behind high gas prices and the economy as the reasons Bush's approval rating is so bad.

[bluefish]

26. If he blames the war, then don't start wars!

n/t

[6000eliot]

29. "Nice try, though?"

It isn't about a reporter trying to get at the truth; it's just a game for him. What a scumbag. I hope he rots in jail.

[Amonester]

48. Yeah, the thought of thousands upon thousands of human beings

many of them young and healthy American women and men, and many of them innocent Iraqi citizens, babies, children, young adults, women and men, elderly people, many of them TORTURED (for WHAT??), ALL GONE IN HORRIBLE PAIN (or not gone...yet) would never even come close to pop up in his criminally twisted brain cell$.

It's all about him, him, and him for that despicable pig.

[lumpy]

31. Rove is right about Iraq fiasco dragging

down Bush's popularity. An war against any peoples based on lies and convolutions is bound to be unpopular. The unsettled results of this war is the secondary reason for the popularity slide; thousands of lives lost, a country destroyed, continual strife, lack of trust in this leadership, inept administration, loss of foreign support and corruption galore.

[Tight_rope]

32. Bush Brains gone bad I see. What an idiotic thing to say.

"People like this president," Rove said. "They're just sour right now on the war."

Now I know that he will be indicted for sure.

[lebkuchen]

50. Those brains were bad to start with.

Bad to the bone.

[AndyTiedye]

33. Bush** and Rove Should Come Out And See How Much We Like Him

[robbedvoter]

41. Amazing montage!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2285477&mesg_id=2286109

[tanyev]

34. Gosh, Karl, are you regretting that decision to start the war?

[Gregorian]

35. But the Iraq war is a total success!

Mission Accomplished! You got your $3 per gallon gas. That was the goal. So shut the fuck up.

And stop blaming, and take responsibility for once in your pathetic life!

[dalloway]

36. THIS is the ULTIMATE black is white strategy....

Instead of it being Bush's fault the Iraq war is a disaster, Rove is trying to claim it is the war's fault that Bush is a disaster.

Taking evading responsibility to a whole new level!

Unbelieveable!

[Canuckistanian]

37. Boy, that Rove, he sure is a genius...

The war in Iraq dragging the poll numbers down? I never would have guessed it.

And he's absolutely right about the "likeability" vs. "approval" thing. I like my next door neighbor but I sure as hell wouldn't want him making life-or-death decisions affecting thousands of people.

I'd prefer that my president was of above average intelligence, experienced and emotionally mature.

I hear Ted Bundy, Hitler and Stalin were likeable, too.

[onecent]

38. What? He didn't blame Clinton?????? n/t

[Agony]

39. Lets just do a little simple math on this one! shall we?

First set up a couple of simple equations:

Iraq war = Low Bush poll numbers <---Rove sez
Iraq war = Bush's war <-----It's his war! He started it! He claimed it! Remember? "I'm the War president!"

Then perform the substitution:

Bush's war = Low Bush poll numbers! <--and Viola! Chimpy is responsible for his own low poll numbers! Whaaaaaa? Rove<---idiot?




Oh shit! I forgot, freepies can't do simple math!

[demo dutch]

42. They're linked... you idiot!!!!

[sellitman]

43. I wouldn't share a Cold Beer with him in the dessert.

Not even if I was parched.

Like him?

Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[ellenfl]

44. huh?

On the economy, Rove credited the president's fiscal policies, particularly a series of first-term tax cuts, for a recovery that has gone on since late 2001

would that be the recovery from the clinton years?

ellen fl

[Skittles]

45. chickenhawk warmongering SCUMBAG

GO TO HELL ROVE

[Supersedeas]

51. dead soldiers are such a political drag to the WH

[Rex]

46. U.S. economy the strongest in the world

Wow we are doomed. Rove is soooooo going to jail! HAHAHAHA!!!!

[Stargleamer]

47. Does anyone know what Bush's likeability ratings are?

"Rove said that Bush's likeability ratings are far higher than his approval ratings".

And yet: "On the March 15 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews was incredulous and "amazed" when confronted with a March 10-13 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showing that just 39 percent of respondents expressed "positive" feelings toward President Bush, compared with 50 percent who expressed "negative" feelings."

<http://mediamatters.org/items/200603160012>

It appears Rove is mixing up "up" with "down". It goes with the Basic Orwellian mode of operation of this administration.

Does anyone know what Bush's current likeability ratings are?

[depakid]

49. "a recovery that has gone on since late 2001???"

that would be a 5 year "recovery" from a market bubble and several month long recession? I guess we'll keep "recovering" (joblessly) all the way til 2009....

[goforit]

52. The delusions of KKKarl Rove, a limbaugh wannabe.

[antonialee839]

54. "People like this president," Rove said.

Now we know where Pickles has been getting her Kool-Aid.

[Cha]

55. That and everything bush

touches with his monkey paws.

[Dr Fate]

56. As if the war is some separate entity in no way connected to Bush...

...or Rove for that matter.

Wha- did it just fall in his lap or something?

Bush=Iraq. He is the decider and the war president.