Karl Going and Tommy Gone

Since it will be fashionable to pile on Karl Rove today, let me point out that I have been piling on him since the end of 2000.

Had it not been for a highly partisan five-to-four vote of the U.S. Supreme Court that gave Florida's electoral votes to George W. Bush in that year's election, Rove would not be considered the political genius that many believe him to be today.

Instead, Rove would have been blamed for blowing the election for not concentrating more on Florida, a state Bush should have won handily. (His brother was the governor, for cripes sake, and Florida had gone for George H.W. Bush against Bill Clinton in 1992.)

And let us not forget that George W. Bush lost what was considered the object of the game in those days: the popular vote.

As I wrote, "Even those reporters who worship at the feet of ... political guru Karl Rove may be forced to admit that losing an election by 500,000 popular votes to Al Gore is not a sign of genius." But what about the next election that Rove masterminded, the election of 2004? In America's first post-Sept. 11 election, an incumbent president beats political powerhouse John Kerry by 2.4 percentage points. You're right: Rove's a genius.

And since I am in a disagreeable mood today (I picked up a bad cold at the Iowa State Fair; I will never do a kissing booth again), let me disagree with those who are saying that former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson dropped out of the Republican presidential race Sunday night because of his poor showing in the Ames, Iowa, straw poll on Saturday. In reality, the Ames Straw Poll was Thompson's excuse to end a disastrous campaign that had accomplished nothing but diminishing a reputation it took Thompson decades to build.

Thompson started out his presidential campaign by insulting Jews. In a speech to the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Thompson said: "I'm in the private sector, and for the first time in my life I'm earning money. You know, that's sort of part of the Jewish tradition, and I do not find anything wrong with that."

He then tried to make things all better.

"I just want to clarify something, because I didn't (by) any means want to infer or imply anything about Jews and finances and things," he said. "What I was referring to, ladies and gentlemen, is the accomplishments of the Jewish religion. You've been outstanding businesspeople, and I compliment you for that."

Then, in a debate, Thompson moved on to insulting gay people.

He was asked: "If a private employer finds homosexuality immoral, should he be allowed to fire a gay worker?"

Thompson replied: "I think that is left up to the individual business. I really sincerely believe that that is an issue that businesspeople have got to make their own determination as to whether or not they should be."

Moderator: "So the answer is yes?"

Thompson: "Yes."

Thompson later blamed the need to go to the bathroom and a dead hearing aid battery for his answer. (Also, he was not wearing the tinfoil hat that he uses to block out gamma rays from Mars.)

Thompson had been a popular political figure in Wisconsin — having been elected to an unprecedented four terms as governor — and also was secretary of health and human services.

So what does he do at Ames in what he knows will probably be his last national speech?

He insults Muslims.

"I went to Afghanistan, and women couldn't go out of their homes without a burqa," Thompson told the crowd. "Wouldn't that have been nice today in this temperature?"

As I write this column, the temperature in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is 95 degrees, which is hotter than Ames was on Saturday when Thompson spoke. And, I guarantee you, women are walking around in burqas in the sun without being as addled as Thompson was without one in air conditioning.

Which does not mean that he has not left his mark.

In the future, anybody who thinks about running for president and asks, "What can I lose?" should consider the case of Tommy Thompson.

To find out more about Roger Simon, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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