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Rove: Marriage issue and role of money were big
2 hours, 38 minutes ago
By Jeff Zeleny Washington Bureau
Karl Rove, the architect of President Bush (news - web sites)'s re-election campaign, said Tuesday the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts had "captured and colored the national imagination" and resonated throughout the country with Republicans and Democrats alike.

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"People would be well advised to pay attention to what the American people are saying," Rove said, noting the 11 states that approved bans on gay marriage last week were split in the presidential race. "It shows the strength of this issue."
In a rare, wide-ranging session, Rove said the campaign finance reform law designed to limit the influence of money in politics failed. He accused wealthy individuals on both sides of trying to "derail American democracy" by using hundreds of millions of dollars to influence the race.
"Would our system have been better off if the 527s had not been players? I think so," Rove said, referring to the political organizations named after a section of the tax code that played a key role in the 2004 campaign. "I'm a fervent believer in strong parties, and things that weaken the parties and place the outcomes of elections in the hands of billionaires who can write checks and political consultants who can get themselves hired by billionaires who can write checks gives me some concern."
In a luncheon meeting with reporters on Tuesday, hosted by the Christian Science Monitor newspaper, Rove listed the influence of money as one of biggest surprises of the race. The election's outcome, he said, turned on three issues: security, values and the economy.
Rove also said the election underscored the gains Republicans have made across the country.
"There are big swaths of the country where Democrats are becoming less and less competitive," said Rove, referring to the electoral map that shows the majority of the country's surface area covered in red (Republican) and not blue (Democrat).
The elevation of moral issues--driven in part by the Massachusetts court decision to legalize same-sex marriage and the San Francisco mayor's decision to grant same-sex marriage licenses--helped Republicans, Rove said.
"This is an issue about which there is a broad general consensus," he said. "People do not like the idea of the concept of marriage as being a union between a man and a woman being uprooted and overturned by a few activist judges or a couple of activist local elected officials who assume unto themselves the right to do so."
With a folder of election returns at his fingertips, Rove ticked through a state-by-state list of results he said offered evidence that the president had won a mandate of the American people in his 51 percent to 48 percent win over Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites). Critics disagree, saying the victory was too narrow to be deemed a mandate.
Rove, whom the president praised last week in his victory speech to the nation, has been the top political strategist for Bush since his first race for Texas governor in 1994. Rove declined to discuss specifics about the first 100 days of Bush's second term or about what the nation would look like when Bush leaves office.
When asked to speculate about the Republican presidential field in 2008, Rove demurred. With a smile, he said: "This will be the last presidential campaign that I will ever do."
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