My association with Karl is that I was vice president-elect that same year. We subsequently spent 12 months together as friends and fellow student body officers. The Karl Rove that Moench describes as calculating, winning at any cost and having what he feels were shallow ambitions of only wanting to become a political operative with no dreams or ideals of wanting to make the world a better place doesn't describe the Rove I knew.
The year we were elected, the most diverse group of officers the school had ever seen emerged as the winners. The president was the first non-Mormon elected, three of us were from single-parent families and only half of the group were the predominant Mormon faith.
Moench felt that Karl, in spite of social disadvantage, figured out how to appeal to the "social elite" of the school and climb the ladder. What I saw instead was that Karl, like myself, was influenced by a couple of great teachers who gave encouragement, instilled confidence and convinced us we should get involved in student government.
Maybe in 1968 it was a backlash from the status quo of what student body officers had always been that made it possible for this diverse group to be elected. We all became friends, worked together and, as most high school seniors would say, made it our best year yet.
Karl has continued to be a friend, taking time to call and take an interest in our lives over the years. About two years ago he came to the University of Utah to receive an award. My wife and I took him to dinner, discussed old times and the exciting things he had been doing since 2000.
We did not just discuss Karl and the issues of the day but, more important, discussed our families, challenges we faced and what had happened in 35 years. This was not "Karl the Terminator" that Moench described, at least not on the personal level.
He was not arrogant but instead very down-to-earth with the overriding theme being that he couldn't believe he was able to be doing this job and be getting a paycheck. We all should be so lucky to have found something that we truly loved and make a career of it.
Moench drew a distinction between himself and Karl. Moench said that most of his friends, unlike Karl, were "academically focused with goals of becoming doctors, lawyers, professors and scientists. But, with youthful idealism, also dreaming about future romances, our families and making the world a better place." Does he think that only the "academically focused" have those dreams ?
That attitude only underscores the problem with many of the liberal idealists that shape the platforms and plans of the current Democratic Party. Do they think that only the "academically focused" should be shaping ideas and helping to make the world a better place?
Members of both parties really want the same dreams and do want the world to be a better place. They just have a different agenda about how to accomplish it.
The people have spoken, the election was won fair and square because people like Karl Rove recognized that getting out the ground forces, going deeper into the populace of normal, everyday Americans would elect his candidate.
Instead of broadening their base, using grass-roots efforts and deepening support where they know they should have it, the Democrats trotted out Michael Moore, Bruce Springsteen and other celebrities like them to carry their message. Now in four years the Democrats can only hope that they come up with a message that will ring true and change directions or hire a strategist like Karl Rove who recognizes where to harvest the vote.
Like most in our generation, we grew up with mothers who, while trying to instill self-confidence, said we could be the president of the United States if we wanted to.
Karl didn't make president of the United States, but he did help elect one twice.
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Scott Ogden is president of Cargo-Link International, a 28-year-old Utah-based international shipping and logistics company. He is a lifelong resident of Utah.
