Rove takes Obama to task on rhetoric

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Words spoken on the campaign trail are coming back to haunt U.S. President Barack Obama, former White House adviser Karl Rove wrote in a commentary.

"Team Obama is suffering from Extended Campaign Syndrome," Rove wrote in an op-ed piece published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal. "In an election, campaign staffers are often just trying to survive until the next week or the next primary. ... They can be purposely combative and even portray critics as enemies."

Bringing that mindset into the White House can only bring trouble, "a lesson the Obama administration is now learning the hard way," Rove said.

Rove, senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, has been part of several congressional investigations into White House activities, including the firings of U.S. attorneys.

Rove said video and audio recordings of candidate Obama indicated he supported a single-payer healthcare system, a position president Obama now denies.

"Mr. Obama's remarks (during the campaign) are straightforward and indisputable," Rove wrote. "Rather than saying his views have changed as he has worked to create a national consensus, the administration denies what is obviously true."

Rove also took the Obama administration to task over what the former White House insider said were "rhetorical tricks" concerning the country's economic condition. "The economy continues shedding jobs, yet the administration keeps saying the president's policies save jobs," Rove said.

"Mr. Obama's exaggerations, misdirection and efforts to divide Americans are becoming more obvious," Rove concluded. "What worked in the Obama campaign will often backfire on the Obama presidency. But old habits are hard to leave on the trail."