Karl Rove spoke at a public lecture last night and I went to hear him. His moral compass is pointed in a different direction than mine, but his brilliance is indisputable and Rove understands much about running winning political campaigns. I wanted to hear what he had to say up close and personal…well, relatively.

Rove spoke with wit and keen attention to specifics. The most informative part of the evening was Rove’s 41 Rules to winning a presidential election, his prepared presentation which lasted approximately 30 minutes. Since I’ve long taken off my journalist hat and wasn’t in the mood to take notes, what I write here is my best recollection of the points that resonated with me. Here they are in no particular order:

To win the primary:

-Know yourself and your core values.
People (the voters) will sense if you are sincere and they will respond to authenticity.

-Be consistent to your core values.
People are watching and listening at all times. Overall they will support you in positions that may seem inconsistent with party doctrine if people believe you are sincere.

-People have longer attention spans than the media does.
The media is interested in the “race,” while people are actually interested in the candidates and their positions.

-Be in peak physical condition.
There is no physical contest more challenging than a presidential campaign. “You will live in an aluminum tube flying from one town to the next. You will work 18 hour days.”

-Surround yourself with people who sincerely care about you.
Rove noted how McCain’s first round of advisors abandoned him early on and how leaks keep coming out of the Clinton campaign as examples of what happens when people on the campaign don’t really care about the candidate.

-Keep the same message in the primary and the general.
Rove says “Nixon was wrong.” You don’t play to the extremes of your party for the primary and then move to the center for the general. People are watching all the time and will remember what you say.

-You will never have more people paying attention to you than during post-primary speeches.
Rove pointed out Obama’s smart use of teleprompters for those speeches.

-People are smarter than the media and they are watching you even as the media moves on.
John McCain’s phoenix like campaign.

To win the General Election:

-Remember, it’s all about the electoral votes.
Don’t let state candidates sandbag you into campaigning in a state that you know you have locked up. Keep campaigning in the states you need to win. Stay focused.

-Look for underlying trends that may show a stronghold of the other party possibly moving your way.
Rove spoke about Bush’s wins in West Virginia. The Republican party had previously written off West Virginia since Democrats had carried the state almost exclusively since 1960. But Rove’s tracking indicated that there was opportunity for “our people” as he calls Republicans to win the state. When Rove dropped in, met with and offered support to the state Republican party; the beleaguered party members became speechless – literally. Bush won West Virginia in 2000, and 2004.

-Always look across party lines for “your people.”

-In the upcoming election, 6 out of 10 eligible voters are expected to register and vote.
4 out of 10 won’t even register. There is an opportunity there. According to Rove, this demographic is more black, slightly poorer and slightly less educated than the larger electorate. Activating those people could reap rewards.

Some other interesting things Rove said:

He firmly believes that America really wants to elect a woman or African American to the presidency. Of course there are some who will resist it on the basis of gender or race but not most by any stretch.

-Obama might select Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as his VP pick

-Hillary might select a white, male Governor from the Mid-West as her VP pick

-John McCain might select someone young as his VP pick

Rove flat out denied starting the rumor that McCain’s Asian adopted daughter was in fact a black child McCain fathered out-of-wedlock. Rove claims there is a paper trail and that the rumor was started by a South Carolina college professor. Rove says he never understood why McCain didn’t just smack the story down with the truth that McCain and his wife had saved this young girl’s life by adopting her from an orphanage they visited and loved her fully at first sight. Rove says it was a fatal mistake for McCain to turn his energy into accusing and looking for blame. BUT,Rove did not address the role slimy push polling calls had in spreading this destructive rumor once it was out there.

Rove also denied that he had ever spoken with or met with Jill Simpson and of course denied he was involved in any Don Spiegelman dirty tricks.

The interviewer did not seem well informed or well armed with particularly insightful questions. That was a disappointment.

What questions would you ask Karl Rove?