Rove touts Bush headway in key areas

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President Bush expects to help Republicans gain up to four Senate seats and seven House seats in November and already is running Sen. John Kerry out of states that had been considered battlegrounds, White House political strategist Karl Rove said yesterday.

In a 90-minute luncheon interview with editors and reporters of The Washington Times, Mr. Rove said the president is making significant inroads into "blue" states, or those that voted Democratic in 2000, and solidifying his position in the "red" states, which he carried four years ago.

He said the number of true battleground states, which he called "purple," is rapidly shrinking in the Bush-Kerry contest.

"There's a lot more blue territory that's been trending purple and red, and a lot less red that's been getting any tinge of blue in it, and that's good for us," he said. "We're forcing the battle consistently onto their" turf.

Mr. Rove said gains in the Senate, where Republicans already hold a 51-48 advantage, dramatically would improve the chances for the approval of the president's judicial nominees, many of whom Democrats have blocked.

"We're going to get Republican gains in the Senate," he said over lunch at the Hay Adams Hotel across the street from the White House. "And even a gain of a couple of seats is going to work a sea change on their ability to obstruct these judges."

The man credited with engineering Mr. Bush's victorious 2000 campaign bragged of chasing Mr. Kerry out of a half-dozen states that were considered battlegrounds earlier in this year's contest. He said the list soon would grow to include Ohio, which is widely considered the most crucial state in the election.

"I'm convinced that we are on the verge of seeing West Virginia and Ohio sort of move out of contention," a relaxed and confident Mr. Rove said between bites of his Caesar salad.

He recalled Democrats announcing "with a great flourish" their plans to expand the battle to states such as Louisiana, only to pull out after millions in advertising expenditures failed to produce gains in the polls.