WASHINGTON - President Bush had many explanations for what he called the "thumping" his party took Tuesday, but the most creative was the notion that his chief strategist, Karl Rove, had spent too much time reading books.
"I obviously was working harder on the campaign than he was," the president said at Wednesday's East Room news conference. The reporters laughed. Rove wore a sheepish grin and stared at his lap.
True, Rove will have to surrender his "genius" credentials after the GOP lost the House and apparently the Senate. But the recriminations weren't stopping at Rove's door. The president, who started his appearance with an admission that "I share a large part of the responsibility," went on to blame everybody else.
He blamed corruption: "People want their congressmen to be honest and ethical, so in some races that was the primary factor."
He blamed Mark Foley, whose name remained on the Florida ballot: "People couldn't vote directly for the Republican candidate."
He blamed ballot rules: "You could have the greatest positions in the world ... but to try to get to win on a write-in is really hard to do."
He blamed Democratic organization: "I'm sure Iraq had something to do with the voters' mind, but so did a very strong turnout mechanism."
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1109elnbushBlame1109.html
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