Democrats lost the November election the moment John Kerry won the Iowa caucuses in January, nationally syndicated columnist Robert Novak said Wednesday as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series. The self-proclaimed \Prince of Darkness"" said Kerry was doomed because he never took a firm stand against raising taxes.
Novak, whose political columns appear in more than 150 newspapers nationwide, is a regular conservative panelist on CNN's ""Crossfire."" Novak began with a prepared list of questions he is frequently asked, starting with his assessment of a possible presidential run by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, in 2008.
""After risking it all with a liberal Democrat from Massachusetts, would [the Democrats] risk it all with a liberal Democrat from New York? I don't think it'll happen,"" he said.
He also endorsed skeptics' allegations of a liberal media bias, suggesting this is why people are still baffled Bush won.
""Democrats wonder, how could ordinary Americans vote for Bush when it was against their own economic interests?"" Novak asked.
He suggested Democrats think Republicans must have tricked voters into believing a Kerry victory would lead to a flood of abortions and same-sex marriages. Nonsense, he scoffed.
""[Bush voters] didn't think he was against their economic interests, they thought he was for them,"" he said. ""They want less government and lower taxes, like they always have, but ever since Reagan's easy win over Carter, every losing Democrat was on the wrong side of taxes.""
He added voters feared Kerry's plan to tax only the rich would eventually trickle down to them as well.
Novak did not discuss the controversy in which he has been embroiled since July 2003. The issue centered on his disclosure of an undercover CIA agent's name that was illegally leaked to him by an as-yet-unnamed White House source. When asked directly why he published the name when he knew doing so could risk a U.S. agent's safety, Novak declined to comment, citing the ongoing criminal investigation. He ignored a follow-up question about whether, in hindsight, he would print the name again.
His refusal to answer disappointed some audience members.
""I came here specifically to hear him answer about the CIA leak,"" UW-Madison graduate student Karin Hollister said. ""He took the easy way out.""
UW-Madison senior Abdoulie Jammeh agreed.
""To be fair, he probably has to be careful in a criminal investigation, but I think he could have let out more than he did,"" he said. ""The question looked like it ticked him off.""
