White House political adviser Karl Rove said
said Sunday that John Kerry's votes on the war in Iraq were the
primary factor that cost him the election. Rove described Kerry's
votes on the war as the "gift that kept on giving."
He downplayed suggestions that moral issues may have been the the
key to the Bush victory.
Tactically, Kerry's decision to vote for the $87 billion
in funding for troops and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and then deciding in October 2003 to vote against it, was a
bonanza for the president's campaign, "the gift that kept on
giving," Rove said.
Bush's campaign featured the videotape in thousands of
commercials around the country to paint Kerry as a flip-flopper.
The label stuck to the Massachusetts senator despite reports
about frequent changes in various Bush positions.
Rove played down the importance to the campaign of
"moral values," which exit polls last Tuesday
unexpectedly identified as a major consideration of many voters,
especially those who voted for Bush.
Rove said 34 percent of the voters were motivated by
issues surrounding Iraq and the war on terror, compared with 30
percent motivated by moral values. "What essentially
happened in this election was that people became concerned about
three issues: first the war, then the economy, jobs and taxes and
then moral values. And then everything else dropped off of the
plate," he said.
During the primaries two of the early frontrunners for the
Democratic nomination were both considered anti-war candidates.
Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont was an early frontrunner and his
campaign started to collapse after his defeat in Iowa. Gen.
Wesley Clark, who entered the race later than any other
candidate, was initially positioned to inherit the anti-war
mantle but could not overcome the surprise surge for Sens. John
Kerry and John Edwards after Iowa.
