Rove sets Republican battle plan for elections

WASHINGTON — President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, signaled Republican plans to campaign aggressively on national security in the 2006 elections, accusing the Democrats on Friday of being "profoundly and consistently" wrong when it comes to defending the country.

At a time when Republican leaders are worried that scandals in Washington, D.C., will hurt their party's chances in November, the senior White House aide countered with an upbeat assessment in a speech to members of the Republican National Committee.

Sketching themes for what he described as a winning Republican agenda for the midterm elections, Rove portrayed Democrats as weak on national defense while the United States, under Republican leadership, is "winning the war against Islamic fascism."

He criticized Democrats for wanting to "cut and run in Iraq," for trying to amend the USA Patriot Act and for questioning Bush's authorization of warrantless domestic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency.

"At the core," Rove said, the two major parties "have fundamentally different views of the world and fundamentally different views on national security. Republicans have a post-9/11 view of the world, and Democrats have a pre-9/11 view of the world."

Four years ago, Rove set off a minor furor when he told the same audience that Republicans would make Bush's handling of the war on terrorism a central theme in the 2002 midterm elections.

Democrats assailed him for politicizing the fight against terrorism at a time it was seen as a bipartisan cause; that fall, the Republicans bucked history by gaining House seats and retaking the Senate.

This time, national-security concerns are more complex, opposition to the war is running high and Bush's popularity has fallen, although polls show his handling of the fight against terrorism remains his greatest political asset. Rove has gained notoriety, in part because of repeated appearances before a grand jury investigating the outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame.

Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean, in a statement, said Rove lacks the credibility to question Democrats' commitment to national security because of his involvement in the Plame case. Dean said the Bush aide had "breached our national security for partisan gain, and that is both unpatriotic and wrong."

Rove skirted issues that increasingly are dividing his party, including immigration and the failure to rein in government spending, as well as worries over the ethics scandal involving Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the legal problems of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, from Texas, and other Republicans.

It was left, instead, for Republican National Chairman Ken Mehlman to call on the party to push for reductions in spending and take steps to address corruption.

Without mentioning names, Mehlman reminded RNC members that "power corrupts" and, to applause, demanded that any Republicans found guilty of "illegal or inappropriate behavior" be forced to "pay the price" and "suffer the consequences."

Attorneys to subpoena

journalists' notes

Attorneys for Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff told a federal court Friday that they plan to subpoena several journalists and news organizations to obtain their notes and other information they consider useful in defending their client from perjury charges.

The plan for defending I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is likely to delay his trial substantially and create another round of battles over whether a court can compel reporters to turn over information about the confidential sources in Libby's criminal case.

Libby's attorneys communicated their intentions in a status report that federal prosecutors and defense counsel jointly filed Friday with U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton.

The papers do not spell out which reporters might be subpoenaed.

Libby has pleaded not guilty to five counts of obstructing justice, perjury and lying in the two-year investigation into the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.