Signature Event Speaker Provides Important Perspective During Pivotal Election Season

Former political campaign consultant and Presidential advisor Karl Rove brought historical perspective and words of reassurance and optimism to the more than 700 people attending Bellevue University’s 15^th Signature Event, held October 1 in downtown Omaha.

Rove, a best-selling author and conservative commentator, advised voters to consider that while a contentious, partisan, even angry, political climate exists now, it won’t always be that way.

“We’re in a particularly divisive moment in American politics,” he said. “But don’t wring your hands over that, because we’ve been there before, and it’s been worse.”

Rove’s remarks, moderated by University Board member Mike Cassling, were wide-ranging and covered topics such as current and past U.S. elections, partisanship, leadership, and the American Dream. Excerpts follow.

The 2024 Election

Rove asked for a show of hands on two questions: First, “How many of you are happy with the state of American politics?” and two, “How many of you are confident that the country will be in good hands, no matter who is elected President?” No hands went up. “This is not how we normally feel prior to an election,” Rove said, adding a word of hope for the future.

 “We are going to come through this moment for one simple reason, that nobody raised their hand and said they’re satisfied. The people we send to Washington, the good ones, aren’t satisfied either. They came to do something for their community, their district, state, or country, and are they determined to do it,” Rove said, citing recent instances of bipartisanship, including the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the 2022 CHIPS Act for domestic manufacture of high-end semiconductors vital to U.S. technology innovation and security.

He said about 160 million Americans, or two-thirds of eligible voters, will cast votes. Rove said the remaining third still needs to be registered or turned out for the election.

A relatively small proportion of voters (8-12%) are undecided — conflicted about both candidates or not yet engaged in the election process. He noted that “one study of low-propensity voters showed they spent only about four minutes a week thinking about the election, but they are becoming more engaged as the election approaches.”

Polls and Predictions

While Rove said the only poll that really matters is Election Day, he pointed out that Presidential polling has been very close and very stable, showing little change – a virtual dead heat within the polls’ margin of error. Both parties will spend in excess of $1 billion to win their campaigns.

“We’ve got a relatively small number of seven battleground states which will likely decide it,” Rove said. “Former President Donald Trump’s best path is through the Sun Belt: Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina. He wins those three, and one other, and he’s back in the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris’s best path is the ‘Blue Wall,’ the Great Lakes states: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. She wins that, and she’s President.”

Rove predicted both U.S. Senate and House majorities could flip. “Republicans take the Senate with a small majority, possibly 53 seats. Democrats probably take the House by a small margin. Blue areas of Texas, and red areas of California and New York could decide the outcome.”

America’s Leadership Role 

“We’re not going to solve every problem, but the prosperity of our country, its future economic growth, and the peace of the world depends upon a strong America, starting with a strong military and a country that has its fiscal house in order,” Rove said.

The American Dream

Rove said two recent conversations while traveling on two continents indicate the American Dream is alive and well. A cab driver in Abuja, Nigeria, asked where Rove was from. “I said ‘Texas.’ He says, ‘Oh, America! I want the American Dream.’ I said, ‘What’s the American Dream to you?’ He says, ‘Work hard. Dream big.’”

Then, during a recent visit to New York, Rove met a Taiwanese-American cab driver who emigrated to the U.S. in 1976 and washed dishes while taking English language lessons. He pursued education and eventually became an actuary. His daughter became a doctor, and his son, a financial analyst. “I drive a cab on weekends to make money so that my grandchildren may go to college. Only in America could I do this,” he said.

“Think about that,” Rove said. “Only in America could you take somebody from a rice paddy in Taiwan and give him the vision to love this country, to work hard, dream big and sacrifice for those he loves. So don’t bet against America. We’re like that.”

Bellevue University launched its annual Signature Event speaker program in 2009 to extend the impact of the University’s undergraduate Kirkpatrick Signature Series course, which is a requirement for all undergraduate degree students.

Since its introduction in 1996, the Signature Series has emphasized informed, engaged citizenship based on knowledge of America’s foundational values and freedoms, including free enterprise and America’s role in the world, and source documents like the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, and the U.S. Constitution. To date, more than 65,000 University undergraduates from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 100-plus foreign countries have completed the three-course series.

Karl C. Rove served as Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush from 2000 to 2007 and was President Bush’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy from 2004 to 2007. He engineered Bush’s successful 2004 and 2008 election victories and ran more than 75 GOP campaigns for Senator, Governor, Congress, and other elective offices in 24 states. Today, Rove teaches at the University of Texas-Austin, writes a weekly op-ed column for the Wall Street Journal; and is a frequent contributor on FOX News Channel.