Photos by David Mager and Deborah K. O'Brian / courtesy of Dick Morris


Dick Morris leaves Clinton's side to support Bush

By NICK POWILLS

The first time I heard Dick Morris talk on radio, I was instantly sold on his political machine. His carefully constructed language impressed me like some of my favorite college professors engaged me.

His easygoing dignified voice was, and is, extremely persuading. Maybe that's why he has gone on tour to sell his books, because he is truly a better businessman than a political genius.

Or maybe he just knows the game.

When I met Dick Morris at a Borders bookstore in Oak Brook, Ill., I knew I was in for a treat. I knew I was going to get a candid, open response for each question I asked him. Whether that be the war in Iraq or the Presidential race, Morris was going let his mouth, and emotions, speak freely.

BUSH IS THE BETTER MAN

Throughout former President Bill Clinton's career, Dick Morris was at his side – despite being fired several times. Through all the scandals and love affairs, Morris continued to support Clinton.

"I met with him for the first time in 1977 when he was running for governor," Morris explains. "We had this wonderful three-hour meeting at his office. It was just incredible. And when it was over, I had to go to the bathroom.

"His office looked like a finished basement – the kind where you would expect to see a ping pong table in the middle of the room. So, he said go to the back of the room and take a right and that's my bathroom, and you can use it. So I went back there and closed the door and on the inside of the door was this Florida ceiling pinup of this gorgeous blonde spilling out of a totally inadequate white bikini.

"So, when I got out of the bathroom I said, 'You know, is it OK to have this on your wall in a state office building?"

"And he said, 'Don't you know who that is?'

"And I said, 'No sir.'"

"He said, 'That's Dolly Parton.'

"And I said, 'Who?'

And he said, "Oh man, you really are from New York."

Morris looks at the few fans seated in his audience and starts to laugh, in unison, with the listeners paying attention to my interview.

"So, Dolly hooked you on Bill?" I ask.

"Absolutely."

The relationship between Morris and Clinton was not smooth (as seen in Morris' and his wife, Eileen McGann's, new book, "Because He Could"). Morris has become very critical of Clinton in later years, especially in regards to Clinton's moves prior to September 11. Because of what Morris called "so many mistakes" before that dreaded September day, he has shifted his support toward Republican President George W. Bush.

"I think that George Bush is very honest guy," he says, as he signs hundreds of copies of his books at the store. "I don't think George Bush lies. I think he makes mistakes like with weapons of mass destruction. But I think Bush could care less about his popularity.

"Look, there are two types of politicians in the world – narcissists and sane people. And half the politicians are narcissists and half of them are sane. And the definition of a narcissist is that he has no sense of himself internally. It's only the reflected admiration of other people.

"Nixon was like that. Johnson was like that. Kennedy may have been like that. And Clinton was certainly like that. On the other hand Reagan, who was in an industry full of people like that, was not like that. And Carter was not like that. And Bush isn't and Kerry isn't. They have a sense of themselves and they look at the polls and the popularity because they want to get elected, but they don't look at it as a statement of who they are as people."

His support for President Bush stems from the bravery Bush showed post 9-11. "If it weren't for 9-11 I would have voted for Gore, or Clinton or Kerry," he said a week before the election. "But with it, I'm voting for Bush. He has established a lot of credibility. And he recognized that it's a war and not a police action.

"I just broke with Clinton over 9-11. I think he deserves eight years of blame for it and Bush deserves only 8 months of blame for it."

Without 9-11, however, Morris says his support would have swung toward Kerry, and even more so Joe Lieberman or Wesley Clark, both politicians who ran for the Democratic nomination, thus establishing Morris as an independent.

"I'm an independent. I hate both parties equally," he says with a laugh. "I would have probably voted for Lieberman. Might have voted for Clark. And if there weren't 9-11, I might have voted for Kerry. But there was 9-11, so I'm voting for Bush."

However, without 9-11, Morris says he would not be a Bush supporter. "No, I wouldn't support him," Morris says, taking a sip from his Coke. "I think he is terrible on the environment. I think his work on social security is not good. So, on balance, no, I would not support him. But to me, that's all a side show to what he did with 9-11."

FALLING OUT WITH CLINTON

Dick Morris and Bill Clinton became political allies when they were both basically kids. Morris was 30 and Clinton was 31 when Clinton decided to run for Governor of Arkansas.

"We kind of grew up together. And I strongly supported his domestic policy," Morris says.

Throughout his Clinton tenure, Morris earned his stack in Washington. He was known as one of the most prominent American political consultants and was called, by Time Magazine, as the most influential private citizen in America. With honors such as that, Morris has a right to have an ego along with Clinton. But Clinton didn't accept anyone having an ego with him.

"One of our downfalls happened in 1979 right after I helped him get elected," Morris explains. "He fired me, 'cause he wanted someone with more of a national reputation. And then the son of a gun lost the next election. And then he hired me back to get him in.

"Then in 1990 we had a very bad scene where it was three weeks before his primary for governor and he was losing. And he was really losing it because he was losing it.

"So, we had a meeting at midnight and he may have had some drinks. And he was screaming at me. Just letting me have it in a way I had never had it before. And I got really mad. And I stormed out of the mansion and I said, 'go lose this race on your own.'"

"And then I heard hoof beats behind me. And it was Clinton. And he tackled me, threw me to the ground and knelt over me to punch me.

"Hillary (Clinton) grabbed his arm and pulled him back off and said, 'Bill, Bill, stop. Think about what you are doing.' And he jumped up sputtering off apologies. And
I stomped out of the mansion.

"Hillary walked me around the grounds for 20 minutes trying to calm me down. And then she said a line I never quite interpreted. She said, 'He only does this to people he loves.' So that soured our personal relationship."

Even with such a hostile relationship developing, Morris went back to Clinton.

"When he called me in '94 I came back. Because when the President calls you, you go, and the money and power. And I largely remained positive to him throughout his term. But then I really broke with him after 9-11 because you look at him and you look at the stuff that never happened. It's obvious."

With the relationship finally shot to the ground, Morris has shifted his political respect elsewhere. He clearly supports President Bush, and is totally against the idea of Hillary Clinton running for office, as stated in "Re-writing History," another book Morris wrote with his wife.

Morris explains the Clintons' love for each other in simple terms. "They work because they have one thing in common. Hillary absolutely loves Bill. And Bill absolutely loves Bill," he says with a laugh.