Rove tells DuPage GOP health care bill should fail
Just days ahead of a congressional vote on health care reform, former presidential adviser Karl Rove told DuPage County Republicans Friday the bill should fail.
"The vote's too close to call, but they don't have the votes," he said during a news conference ahead of a keynote address at the county party's 49th Annual Lincoln Day Dinner. "They shouldn't have the votes. It's a bad bill. (It) will dramatically drive up state budgets."
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a broad health care reform package Sunday.
In a video message to the group, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert of Hinsdale and U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam said they wanted to be at Friday's event but remained in Washington to vote on the health care bill. Biggert joked that she heard Democrats "breaking knee caps" to get the votes.
Rove urged the crowd to vote for candidates who opposed the health care reform bill.
Rove orchestrated former President George W. Bush's rise to the White House in 2000 and was a chief figure in his re-election bid in 2004. He held titles of deputy chief of staff and senior adviser in Bush's regime, but there's a label he garnered that he doesn't like.
"I'm not 'Bush's Brain,'" he said. "I'm not the one who went to Yale and earned a business degree. I, on the other hand, failed to get my undergraduate degree."
DuPage Republican Party Chairman and state Sen. Dan Cronin said party leaders chose Rove to headline the event because of his influence on momentous events in recent history.
"I think he's a very important and significant figure in American history," Cronin said. "He had a front-row seat to some of the most life-changing events in our history."
Rove referred to President Barack Obama's election as another historic moment, though he was quick to note he didn't vote for the Democrat. He told Republicans he understood why some did, though.
"He was an aspiration and a hope," he said. "One year later, how's that hope doing?"
More than 800 party faithful attended the county party's largest fundraiser of the year. Many said they came to hear Rove speak. That includes Prospect Heights Alderman and GOP candidate for the 57th District state representative seat Richard Hamen.
"I came out specifically to see Mr. Rove," he said. "I'm hoping he may be a little more candid in this environment. I don't know what to expect, but I think it will be a good, inspirational talk."
The DuPage party could use some inspiration. Several DuPage Republicans are still licking their wounds after a sometimes bitterly fought primary in February. Rove said events like DuPage's Lincoln Day celebration Friday in Oak Brook help start the healing process before the November general election.
"There's a natural tendency after a primary to come together and that's what we're doing here," he said. "No matter what happened here, I'd take what happened in our primary than (the Democrat's) primary. They had a lot of embarrassments and wound up with not that good of a ticket."
Rove wouldn't hint at who he thought was going to be the next GOP presidential candidate but suggested that candidates with such aspirations should get out there and test the waters.
Rove is also promoting a new book about his experiences at the White House called "Courage and Consequence." He said former President Bush has read the book, but he wouldn't talk about his former boss' reaction to it. Rove said he had no regrets about anything he wrote in the book.
"Including the regrets I express in the book," he said.
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<li><a href="/story/?id=367407"> End in sight, health care battle tilts Obama's way <span class="date"> [3/20/10]</span></a></li>
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