This enterprising Dallas reporter hid in the side room. Way to go!
Rove: Fund raising early will let GOP invade rival territory
State Democratic chief faults Bush operative's Texas donor campaign
06/26/2003
By GROMER JEFFERS JR. / The Dallas Morning News
FORT WORTH - Offering a sneak peek at President Bush's re-election strategy, White House political adviser Karl Rove called on supporters Wednesday to help raise enough money to keep their rivals off balance and lock up states for Republicans early next year so the GOP can make inroads into Democratic territory.
"Our object is not to defend our own turf. Our goal is to get the other side to defend their turf," Mr. Rove said at a private meeting of more than 80 partisans at the downtown Fort Worth Club.
He exhorted the Bush backers, many of them longtime GOP donors and elected officials, to overwhelm Democrats when the president and his political foes report their latest fund-raising tallies at the end of this month.
"June 30 is the first battle," he said, a reference to predictions by other Republicans that the Bush camp wants to prove its financial mettle by raising at least $20 million by the end of the month ? and as much as $200 million over the next year.
Molly Beth Malcolm, head of the Texas Democratic Party, blasted the GOP fund raising in Texas.
"After the Bush administration gave big tax cuts to millionaires, it's no surprise that Karl Rove is down here collecting money from the same people who benefited," she said. "Instead of squeezing money out of millionaires in Texas, Rove should be back in Washington squeezing Republican congressmen like [House Majority Leader] Tom DeLay to give working families a tax cut, too."
In his briefing, Mr. Rove acknowledged that he expects serious opposition from Democrats.
"We're not going to catch them napping," he said. "We have to build a stronger ground organization. We've got to do what we did in Texas across the country."
Republicans have talked in general about the outlines of the 2004 campaign, but Mr. Rove, an architect of the Bush victory last time, seldom provides specifics publicly. The Fort Worth session was closed to the press, but a reporter with The Dallas Morning News heard the remarks from the hallway close to the meeting room and near what appeared to be a kitchen storage area.
Later, as he was leaving, Mr. Rove told The News he was not in Texas to lobby state legislators about congressional redistricting, the politically divisive issue that comes up Monday in a special session in Austin.
"It's a Texas issue," he said.
Laying groundwork
For weeks, even before Mr. Bush formally filed for re-election on May 16, Mr. Rove and Ken Mehlman, the former White House political director who is now the campaign manager, have roamed the country, meeting with party activists to lay the groundwork for the president's re-election and a coordinated effort to help other Republicans running for Congress, governor and state legislatures.
It is part of an effort not only to return Mr. Bush to the White House but also to expand the GOP political base and to give him strong majorities in Congress.
"They want to drown out talk about Democratic money," Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Washington-based Rothenberg Political Report, said of the Bush team. "They want to give a sense of inevitability about the re-election of George W. Bush and give Democrats a sense of pessimism."
Mr. Bush plans to attend fund-raisers on July 18 in Dallas and July 19 in Houston.
Mr. Rove said the president is helped by a high approval rating among voters who admire his efforts combating terrorism and in the war with Iraq.
"He's seen as a strong leader," he told the group. "He's also seen as a person who cares about ordinary people."
Responding to a question about terrorism, Mr. Rove said the war would be ongoing.
"There are al-Qaeda cells in 68 countries," he said, adding that the public should not believe the enemy were men "wearing turbans in caves."
Even with the president's popularity, Mr. Rove said, the race will be tough. Early surveys indicate Mr. Bush getting support from less than 50 percent of the public in a matchup with a generic Democratic nominee.
For starters, Mr. Rove said, the Democratic nominee would become a media darling with "The Washington Post, New York Times" and political writers.
"He will be a hero on the evening newscasts," Mr. Rove said. "He will be at or ahead of us in the polls."
Texas, being Mr. Bush's home state, is not expected to be contested by Democrats in the November 2004 election, but it remains a frequent stop for both parties seeking campaign cash.
Ms. Malcolm's office has been referring fund-raising appeals from Democratic presidential contenders to potential Texas donors. One of the most recent appeals came from Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who said in his e-mail message that Mr. Bush has mishandled the economy.
Anticipating a surge by Democrats, Mr. Rove said he hopes Republicans will sock away their stronghold states before Labor Day 2004.
That would allow the party to concentrate on establishing beachheads in states that are considered Democratic power bases.
He mentioned New Mexico, Iowa, Oregon and Wisconsin ? traditional Democratic country ? as prime targets.
"We've got to take states out before Labor Day," he said.
Mr. Rove used the Bush efforts in West Virginia as a model for waging an effective ground war.
He said that former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., lost the state in his failed 1996 presidential bid against Bill Clinton.
But after the GOP worked to build up its base in the state, President Bush won West Virginia.
"Without those four electoral votes, we would have lost," he said.
Mr. Rothenberg, the analyst, said Mr. Rove's plan could work, but he warned about issues related to the sagging economy rising to the public forefront.
"If things continue the way they are, he can take his base for granted and move on the attack," Mr. Rothenberg said. "But a great deal depends on the economy. If that becomes an issue, there will be hand-to-hand combat in many states."
Weatherford auto dealer J. Roger Williams hosted the meeting, which often took the tone of a pep rally. Mr. Rove atteneded a similar event later in San Antonio.
Among those attending in Fort Worth was state Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, author of a redistricting bill that seeks to oust several senior Texas congressmen in favor of Republicans.
He said that Mr. Williams invited him and that he was not there to talk to Mr. Rove about redistricting.
Staff writer G. Robert Hillman in Washington contributed to this report.
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