Editorials

Karl Rove: Texan of the Year

Dear Friends:

I learned Sunday morning that Karl Rove had been selected Texan of the Year by the Dallas Morning News. Part of what makes this so remarkable is that the voters were some of the very writers and editors who have opposed many of Mr. Rove's candidates, (including George W. Bush's first campaign for governor), and who are diametrically opposed to many of his beliefs, policies, and political positions.

I first met Karl Rove in the early l990's at a Republican candidates' school in Austin. This same school produced such speakers as Karen Hughes and Kay Bailey Hutchison and I'll forever be in debt to Steve Hollern for encouraging me to attend. I was amazed at Karl's understanding on how to run a campaign and how he broke it down into discernable parts. There are few people who can crunch the numbers the way he can and then translate that information into plain, understandable English. But there was something else about the man that greatly impressed me. He was a man of deep conviction and abiding principles. He made statements like "too many Republicans lack conviction of the kind that created their party on a foundation of moral principles," and that they "fail to know and speak the truth and to call wrong the things that are wrong." He urged the candidates not to avoid issues simply because they were difficult and warned that avoiding tough choices cannot and should not earn the respect, the trust, or the votes of a majority of the people. To quote Cal Thomas, "there is only one thing worse than convictions that are never applied. It is those that are never held." He said something along the lines of Theologian Carl Henry's book, TWILIGHT OF A GREAT CIVILIZATION, which states "the real heroes of our time are those who in a faithless age hold, live, and share their faith in God....The true immortals will be those who seek to apply the principles of the Bible concretely to the complicated realities of modern life, who preserve a devout and virtuous family life, who are faithful to the abiding values of yesterday, today, and tomorrow." He was a man that when he finished speaking you wanted to stand up and cheer...and he got the loudest ovation of any speaker that day.

Karl Rove has made an impact on American culture of the kind usually reserved for a high profile entertainer or figure not only by helping to frame the message of George W. Bush and guiding him to victories in 2000 and 2004, (without whom he probably would not have won), but also by encouraging his clients to put their (and his) convictions into public policy. He greatly impacted the decision to get the DOMA's (Defense of Marriage Act) on the ballots in various states and to push for a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman to prevent liberal judges from legislating differently from the bench. He will be advising and encouraging President Bush to renominate and push for confirmation of many conservative judges rejected by the previously Democrat controlled Senate Judiciary Committee. He will be impacting the selection of the next Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and
possibly two of the Associate Justices.

Karl Rove believes that man is neither autonomous nor free to do whatever he wishes, but that he is created by God
for a purpose and is answerable to God for his life. And at the end of his life, Karl wants to hear those words reserved
for a few, "Well Done My good and faithful servant, Well Done."


Judge Paul Enlow

Home • Life and Family • Judicial Philosophy • Professional • Editorials • Endorsements • Photo Gallery • Links