Karl Rove tells BSU students about midterm elections

President George W. Bush's former deputy chief and senior adviser spoke at John R. Emens Auditorium last night.

Karl Rove talked about "The Importance of Midterm Elections" to Ball State students and faculty as well as members of the Muncie community.

Before his speech, Rove said he hopes college students are engaged and will vote in the upcoming midterm elections.

"I tend to think they are [interested]," he said. "They ought to be."

Rove talked about how the country's deficits hurt the working public and how college students will shortly be entering the workforce.

"It's you who will have to deal with Medicare," he said.

All midterms are important, Rove said, but this year's election is more important than most.

"We're seeing it in primaries across the country and we'll see it this fall," he said. "Something's coming."

In the 2002 midterm elections, 3 million more Americans voted in the Democratic primaries than in the previous midterm as well as in the 2006 midterm elections, Rove said. This year, about 5 million more Americans voted in the Republican primaries.

Rove said stimulating the economy and the role government plays in people's lives are big issues in the upcoming election, noting how he's unhappy with President Barack Obama's health care reform.

"Where in the Constitution does it say that federal government can force you to buy health insurance just because you're alive?" he said. "With auto insurance, we tell you that if you choose to buy a car, you have to have insurance. It's a choice to buy the car."

Rove said Americans will likely vote Republican in November because they feel the Obama administration hasn't followed through with many of its promises from 2008.

"There's a gap between what people saw in November and what they got after Obama took office," he said.

Senior psychology major Amanda Auron said Rove had some interesting things to say, but she didn't think he stuck to the original topic.

"It was supposed to be about how midterm elections are important," she said. "I feel like he used it more as a Republican platform."

Auron said she wasn't opposed to Rove talking about his personal politics, but he could have eased into the stated topic.

"I understand his basis was ‘this is a good time for Republicans and they have a good chance in the election,' but he didn't relate it," she said. "At a college, I feel the focus should be on why young people might want to vote now."

Auron said her favorite part of the night was Rove's answer to a question from an audience member about where he was on 9/11. Rove spent almost a half hour detailing how he and the president found out about the attacks and the events following it.

"The insights he gave about 9/11 were amazing. The whole room was silent," she said. "I never thought about what they had to do in that situation. After listening to him explain, I understand [how Bush handled the situation]."

Rove said 9/11 was one of the most significant days in history.

"It changed my life. It changed your life. It changed our country," he said. "That event defined the 21st century."

Rove answered questions including his thoughts on the war in Iraq to whether he thought Obama is Muslim.

Rove said he doesn't think Obama is a Muslim and that rumors like that hurt Republicans' credibility.

"We should not play into this," he said. "He was also born in the United States. Anyone who says otherwise is just nutty."

Toward the end of the night, Rove said politics and beliefs aside, it's time for people to get involved in the political process.

"It's important no matter where you are [politically] to participate," he said. "Our democracy can't flourish unless you participate. It's your duty as a citizen. It's your honor as an American to do so."

Check out our media partner, WCRD 91.3 FM, for audio clips of Rove's speech: http://wcrd.iweb.bsu.edu/news


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