White House Stands Behind Rove

Democrats Want Apology For Bush Adviser's 9/11 Comments

(CBS/AP) 
Democrats stressed that they were nearly unanimous in supporting Bush in congressional votes on his response to the Sept. 11 attacks and his decision to go to war in Afghanistan.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said there was no reason for Rove to apologize because he was "simply pointing out the different philosophies when it comes to winning the war on terrorism."

"Of course not," McClellan said when asked by reporters whether Bush would ask Rove to apologize.

"I think what Karl Rove said is accurate and reflects a big difference between the two parties," added Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman.

"I think they (Democrats) have a pre-9/11 world view and I think that's one of the biggest reasons President Bush was re-elected because the American people understood they wanted a president and a philosophy that took on the terrorists abroad to keep us safer at home and guide our ways," he said.

Democrats said Rove, and his Republican allies, were now trying to change the subject when Democrats, and many Americans, are becoming increasingly critical of the course of the war in Iraq.

For Rove "to try to exploit 9/11 for political purposes once again just shows you how desperate they are," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California, who in recent days has been the target of Republican attacks for saying that the Iraq war was a "grotesque mistake."

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, Clinton urged Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to repudiate the "insulting comment."

Rumsfeld replied that it "is unfortunate when things become so polarized or so politicized."