Rove backs tough GOP offense in elections

WASHINGTON — President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, signaled Republican plans to campaign aggressively on national security in the 2006 elections, accusing the Democrats Friday of being "profoundly and consistently" wrong when it comes to defending the country.

At a time when Republican leaders are worried that ethics scandals in Washington, D.C., will hurt their party's chances in November, the senior White House aide countered with an upbeat assessment in a luncheon speech to members of the Republican National Committee.

Sketching themes for what he described as a winning Republican agenda for the midterm elections, Rove portrayed Democrats as weak on national defense while America, under Republican leadership, is "winning the war against Islamic fascism."

He criticized Democrats for wanting to "cut and run in Iraq," for trying to amend the Patriot Act, and for questioning Bush's authorization of warrantless domestic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency.

"At the core," the former Utahn said, the two major parties "have fundamentally different views of the world and fundamentally different views on national security. Republicans have a post-9/11 view of the world, and Democrats have a pre-9/11 view of the world."

Four years ago, Rove set off a minor furor when he told the same audience that Republicans would make Bush's handling of the war on terrorism a central theme in the 2002 midterm elections. Democrats assailed him for politicizing the fight against terrorism at a time when it was seen as a bipartisan cause; that fall, the Republicans bucked history by gaining House seats and retaking the Senate.

This time, national security concerns are more complex, opposition to the war in Iraq is running high, and Bush's popularity has fallen — although polls show his handling of the fight against terrorism remains his greatest political asset. Rove has gained notoriety, in part because of repeated appearances before a grand jury investigating the outing of a CIA agent.

Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean, in a statement, said Rove lacks the credibility to question Democrats' commitment to national security because of his involvement in the CIA case. Dean said the Bush aide had "breached our national security for partisan gain and that is both unpatriotic and wrong."