Dick Morris
The Political Life

An open letter to Karl Rove

Karl Rove
Senior Adviser to the President
for Strategic Initiatives
The White House

Dear Karl:

As you know, I have been doing my best to support President George Bush in the wake of Sept. 11. I felt — and feel — that it is our patriotic duty to do all we can to help him as we confront the threat of international terror.

Now, as the president’s ratings approach rock bottom (you hope), it’s time for me to write to you directly, if publicly, with advice on how to resurrect this dying presidency.

Dying? When Newsweek has you at the exact share of the vote you actually got against Gore in 2000 (48 percent — the word dying is appropriate.

My advice:

1. Confront Iran We confront a deadly threat, as you know, in the determination of the theocratic jingoists in Teheran to acquire nuclear weapons. Don’t worry about being the kid who cried “wolf” too often. Explain candidly and aggressively the danger we face from Iran and rally the public to counter the new threat.

Specifically, invoke the D’Amato Amendment and impose sanctions on European, Asian and Russian companies that invest in helping that criminal regime develop the oil and gas reserves that it uses to subsidize terrorism worldwide.

It is only by appropriately raising the perceived importance of the terrorism issue back to its old heights that Bush can keep control of the political situation at home and abroad. This is not adopting a bad foreign policy for domestic political advantage. It is adopting a good one that has the same end.

2. Restrict The Mission in Iraq Isolationism has always been the hidden force in American politics. Never really defeated in an election, it lingers in both the Democratic and Republican political bases. The casualties and cost of the ongoing occupation of Iraq are tapping into this potent political force (which I once quantified through polling as 35 percent of the electorate.) These voters put aside their isolationism to back the war in Iraq and Afghanistan because of the danger illustrated by Sept. 11. But they are not about to support what Bush once called “social work” in the guise of what he now calls “nation building.”

We should place No. 1 priority on the safety of our troops in Iraq. If we have to keep them on the base and out of the streets, so be it. The first priority has to be to stop the bleeding, whatever the cost to Iraqi reconstruction. Americans don’t care if the electricity is on in Baghdad, just preserve the lives of our sons and daughters.

3. Pass Prescription Drug Benefits The economy is not that important to Bush’s fate. Unlike in 1992, voters understand that there is not much a president can do to impact it. Voters also understand that it is Osama bin Laden, not Bush, who caused the last recession. But health care prices, now that the smoke of terrorism appears — incorrectly — to be clearing, are a very important element in the strength of the Democrats. Just as I told Clinton he was unlikely to win if he didn’t pass welfare reform, I think that Bush has to pass prescription drug benefits for the elderly. None of the GOP objections to the bill should stand in the way of its passage.

For those who say the bill goes too far, I would give the same answer we gave Democrats in 1996 who felt the same about welfare cuts — pass it now and fix it later.

4. Back Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars Bush needs a major domestic theme to deal with high gasoline prices and with our dependence on terrorist oil. His efforts for more energy production ring hollow with Americans. But by galvanizing Americans around hydrogen fuel cell cars and retrofitting American gas stations to carry hydrogen, he offers a practical way to counter the financial power of terrorism. Just as he seized American imaginations with his commitment to research in his State of the Union Address, he should now move to implementation to regain his hold on the issue.

I don’t work there anymore, but perhaps these ideas might help a very successful president who has provided the leadership we need get reelected.

Sincerely, Dick Morris

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