Bush adviser Rove defends warrantless spy program

Rove visited the state to raise money for Republicans.
TOLEDO (AP) -- Presidential adviser Karl Rove criticized a federal judge's order for an immediate end to the government's warrantless surveillance program, saying Wednesday such a program might have prevented the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Headlining a fundraiser for Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who is running for governor, Rove said the government should be free to listen if al-Qaida is calling someone within the U.S.
"Imagine if we could have done that before 9-11. It might have been a different outcome," he said.
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit last week became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, ruling it unconstitutional.
It was the second time in the past month Rove has visited the state to raise money for Republicans.
Protesters
About 50 protesters stood outside the country club where the fundraiser was held, some with signs that said "Impeach Bush."
The state GOP been reeling from an investment scandal that led to Gov. Bob Taft's no-contest plea last year to ethics charges of failing to report several golf outings. The scandal has given Democrats hope of breaking the Republican stranglehold on state offices.
The campaign of U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, the Democrat running against Blackwell, said Rove's visit showed Blackwell's close ties to the unpopular Bush.
"Karl and Ken offer more of the same, and how many times can we continue to go down the same road, with the same devastating results?" David Leland, Strickland's finance chair, wrote in a news release.
Rove told the group Blackwell would help the economy in Ohio by cutting taxes and keeping spending in control. "He understands government isn't where wealth is created," Rove said.
The event attended by about 50 people raised $165,000.