Rove foresees GOP victory

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White House political strategist Karl Rove yesterday confidently predicted that the Republican Party would hold the House and the Senate in next month's elections, dismissing fallout from the sex scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley.

At a luncheon with editors and reporters at The Washington Times, Mr. Rove -- who is widely credited as the architect of the party's historic 2002 midterm election gains -- said Republicans are beginning to make significant headway in defining their party's differences from congressional Democrats, especially on national security.

"I'm confident we're going to keep the Senate; I'm confident we're going to keep the House. The Foley matter has impact in some limited districts, but the research we have shows that people are differentiating between a vote for their congressman and a member from Florida," Mr. Rove said, referring to the Republican who resigned last month after his sexually explicit online messages to former congressional pages were discovered.

President Bush has begun to paint this year's election as a choice between strength and weakness on national security -- and the stark differences will show Americans the true nature of Democrats, Mr. Rove said.

"It is useful to remind people what [Democrats] said and what they do. I think they have given us here, especially in the last couple of weeks, a potent set of votes to talk about. You had 90 percent of House Democrats voting against the terrorist-surveillance program, nearly three-quarters of Senate Democrats and 80 percent of House Democrats voting against the terrorist-interrogation act. Something is fundamentally flawed."

In the hourlong interview, Mr. Rove was upbeat, telling stories from the campaign trail and joking about skewed political coverage that disproportionately shows Democrats poised to take control of Congress

Mr. Rove's optimism is not shared by pollsters, many of whom predict a Republican loss in the House -- with some saying the party could lose as many as 40 seats. The mood in the White House has shifted in recent days, with some beginning to concede the threat to the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, which they won in 1994.

Yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney acknowledged the risk to the House Republican majority.

"I really think we're going to do reasonably well. And I think we'll hold the Senate, and I also think we got a good shot at holding the House," Mr. Cheney said on Rush Limbaugh's top-rated national radio program.

"I think the key will be who goes to the polls on Election Day. And certainly, it's always tough when you're in the midterm of your second presidential term in office."