Rove repaid Brazile a few moments later, commenting that one decision he wouldn't change was winding up the campaign in Tennessee. Tennessee is Gore's home state and proved an embarrassing loss when it was carried by Bush. The three-day conference, sponsored by the Institute of Politics, was largely conducted behind closed doors and off the record, at least initially. All the conversations were tape-recorded and will be used to create a book of the conference. The one public event, where Brazile and Rove made their comments, was a Friday evening panel discussion in the Kennedy School's ARCO Forum.
Political campaigns are the heartbeat of the American political system.
The election may be over, but for the participants the memories are fresh. Responses and discussion were often phrased in the familiar rhetoric of the campaign. Amato echoed the Nader campaign's insistence that corporate money is ruining American politics. And Rove, now senior adviser to the president, rattled off a list of Bush's promised initiatives, such as Social Security reform and fighting poverty with faith-based charities. Audience members said they were surprised at both how frank the campaign managers were and at how fresh the wounds still appeared to be.