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Karl Rove, White House deputy chief of staff, defended the importance of politicians in his speech at the Graduate School of Political Management's Commencement ceremony Saturday in Lisner Auditorium.
The strategist widely known for being instrumental in the election and re-election of President George W. Bush, promised to avoid partisan topics during his address, instead focusing on the profession of political management in general. He said the 77 graduates in attendance were in the same league as some of the greatest political minds because of their education at GSPM.
"People say political professionals are ruining American politics," Rove said before listing a litany of successful politicians - including Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. "While much has changed in the world, political leaders like this make it impossible to dismiss the importance of political managers."
Rove briefly critiqued journalists and columnists and singled out a Harvard professor he disagreed with, but he said that it was a liberal professor who initially sparked his interest in a political career.
Rove, who has worked on 37 winning election campaigns, told the hundreds of graduates, family members and faculty in attendance, that many politicians are wrong in doubting the intelligence of the average American voter.
"The masses aren't asses," he said. "They have great instincts and try to do the right thing."
Audience response was warm among Democrats and Republicans alike.
"I thought it was great," said graduate Danielle Duffy, "I'm a Democrat and people thought there'd be some issues (with Rove's partisanship), but there wasn't."
Graduate Ben Gann agreed, adding that the speaker selection was appropriate for the school.
"You want the best speaker possible and he's a great political manager," said Gann, who admitted he would probably crash next year's Commencement to listen to 2007's keynote speaker.
