Ex-Bush adviser critical of health care proposals

A key player in the previous presidential administration came to Las Vegas to deliver some criticism of the current head of state.

Karl Rove, who advised former President George W. Bush, spoke Wednesday at an annual event for the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a conservative public policy group in Las Vegas.

He spent much of the talk criticizing health care proposals from President Barack Obama. Most of the criticism depicted Obama's vision as too costly and overreaching.

"He somehow believes we are so stupid we are not going to pay attention," Rove told the crowd, which included conservatives and Republicans such as Gov. Jim Gibbons and Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki.

Rove urged them to oppose Obama's health care proposals and to come up with their own solutions to make insurance more affordable and accessible.

"We'll be defined this year by what we oppose," Rove said. "By next year we need to be able to articulate what we are for. There is a problem: Some people are not getting health insurance, they can't afford it."

He talked also about the economy and shared stories from his days in the White House, when he ran the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison and the Office of Strategic Initiatives.

Rove, who lived in Washoe County as a child from the ages of 9 to 15, came to national prominence in 2000 in his role as chief strategist for Bush's presidential campaign.

He was viewed as a shrewd strategist, and his name often was invoked by political opponents as shorthand for decisions that appeared to be shadowy or politically motivated. He left the White House in August 2007.

Rove's name became entangled in Silver State politics after the 2007 firings of nine federal prosecutors, including then-U.S. Attorney for Nevada Daniel Bogden.

A subsequent investigation into the firings sought to link them to political masterminding by Rove as part of an effort to purge the Department of Justice of those who had run afoul of the Bush administration.

Bogden's dismissal was never linked directly to Rove. Earlier this month, Bogden was reinstated to his former post with the blessing of both Nevada senators, who had been critical of the way the veteran prosecutor was treated.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.