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| {{ Infobox person | |||
| |name=Dick Morris | |||
| |birth_date={{bda|1948|10|05}} | |||
| |nationality=American | |||
| |known_for=Frequent commentary on Fox News | |||
| |occupation=] | |||
| |image=Replace this image male.svg | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Dick Morris''' (born November 28, 1948) is an American ] author and ] who previously worked as a ], ], and general ]. | |||
| Morris became an adviser to the ] administration after Clinton was elected president in 1992. Morris encouraged Clinton to pursue ] policies of ] that merged traditional Republican and Democratic proposals, rhetoric, and issues to achieve maximum political gain and popularity. He worked as a Republican strategist before joining the Clinton administration, where he helped Clinton recover from the ] by convincing the President to adopt Republican policies.<ref name=Time>{{cite journal|title=Who is Dick Morris?|lastname=Pooley|firstname=Eric|journal=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985043,00.html|date=September 2, 1996|accessdate=2008-09-17}}</ref> | |||
| The president consulted Morris in secret beginning in 1994.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/clinton/chapters/4.html |title=Frontline: The Clinton Years |accessdate=2007-12-27}}</ref> Clinton's communications director ] has said that "Over the course of the first nine months of 1995, no single person had more power over the president". Morris went on to become ] of ]'s successful 1996 ] to the office of ]. His tenure on that ] was cut short two months before the election, when it was revealed that he had allowed a ] to listen in on conversations with the President. Morris then turned his focus to media commentary. He now writes a weekly column for the '']'' which is carried nationwide, contributes columns and blogs to both the print and online versions of ], and appears regularly on the ] for political commentary. He is also President of Vote.com, a website which conducts polls on "important public issues and other topics" and then emails results to "important decision makers" in government<ref name="turn-off">{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2000/aug/28/newmedia.usa2000|title=Online politics proves a turn-off|last=Martinson|first=Jane|date=August 28, 2000|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=2009-04-09}}</ref>. | |||
| More recently, Morris has emerged as a harsh critic of the Clintons and has written several books that criticize them, including ''Rewriting History'', a rebuttal to ] ]'s ''].'' Morris said that he would leave the United States if Hillary Clinton were elected president in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/12/19/104142.shtml?s=al&promo_code=2B2E-1 |date=2006-12-19 |title=Dick Morris: I’m Leaving if Hillary Wins |accessdate=2007-11-02}}</ref> | |||
| Currently, Morris is strategist for Republican ]'s campaign in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial race.<ref name=Mihos>{{cite news |url=http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1176439 | title=Dick Morris to Head Christy Mihos' Gov Campaign |date=2009-06-03 |first=Thomas |last=Grillo |publisher=] |accessdate=2009-07-25}}</ref> | |||
| ==Early life== | |||
| Morris attended ] in New York City,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7D61538F933A15753C1A963958260 |title=President's Guru Goes Public; Back Home, Dick Morris Tells Tales From the Clubhouse |first=Alison |last=Mitchell |date=1995-10-20 |publisher=] |accessdate=2007-11-02}}</ref> where he was active on the debate team. He managed ]'s campaign for ]; Nadler has since gone on to represent New York in the ]. Morris was also involved in the first campaign of Richard Gottfried for New York State Assembly in 1970. Morris graduated from Stuyvesant in 1964, then attended ] where he earned a ] ], graduating in 1967. | |||
| ==Morris and the Clintons== | |||
| Morris first worked with Bill and ] during Bill Clinton's successful 1978 bid for ]. Morris is credited by many with engineering Clinton's re-election to the Arkansas governorship after a humiliating defeat at the end of Clinton's first term. As a result, Clinton turned to Morris after the mid-term elections of 1994, when Republicans gained control of the U.S. House and Senate and Clinton's own chance for a second presidential term seemed remote. From the early months of 1995 to August 1996, Morris was a principal architect of the Clinton-Gore re-election strategy. | |||
| Morris did not have a role in Clinton's successful 1992 Presidential campaign, which instead was headed by ], ], ], and ]. After the 1994 mid-term election where ] took control of both houses of the ] and gained considerable power in the states, Clinton once again sought Morris' help to prepare for the ]. It was Morris who proposed a strategy that is now referred to as "]," where Clinton would appeal to a diverse group of voters by distancing himself from both the ] and Republican parties. | |||
| ===Fallout=== | |||
| <!-- Deleted image removed: ]'' featured the scandal on September 9, 1996. {{ifdc|1=Image:DickMorris TimeMagazineCover Scandal.jpg|log=2008 November 16}}]] --> | |||
| On August 29, 1996, Morris resigned from the Clinton campaign after reports surfaced that he had been involved with a prostitute. A New York ] newspaper, the '']'', had obtained and published a set of photographs of Morris and the woman on a ], hotel balcony. News of the impending publication broke during the third day of the 1996 Democratic Convention. The '']'' reported unverified claims that in order to impress the woman, S. Rowlands, Morris invited her to listen in on his conversations with President Clinton. <ref>, Washington Post</ref><ref>McCaslin, John, "Inside the Beltway," The Washington Times, September 5, 1996</ref><ref>Hall, Allan, "I'D LIKE TO BED HILLARY; Kinky aide called the First Lady 'Twister' and Bill 'Monster'," The Mirror, August 30, 1996</ref> | |||
| Morris resigned on the same day that Bill Clinton spoke and accepted the nomination at the ]. In his resignation statement, he said that "while I served I sought to avoid the limelight because I did not want to become the message. Now, I resign so I will not become the issue."<ref name=Resign >{{cite journal|title=Call-Girl Story Costs President A Key Strategist|lastname=Berke|firstname=Richard|journal=New York Times|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/30/us/call-girl-story-costs-president-a-key-strategist.html|date=August 30, 1996|accessdate=2009-03-25}}</ref> In his response, President Clinton praised Morris as a "friend", and thanked him for his years of service. Privately various aides to Clinton were furious that in his resignation statement Morris credited himself with helping the President "come back from being buried in a landslide" and that Morris ended by comparing himself to Robert Kennedy.<ref name="Skunk" /> | |||
| Morris was featured on two consecutive covers of '']'' magazine. The September 2, 1996 issue, which was released before the prostitute story broke, featured Morris as "The Man Who Has Clinton's Ear."<ref name="Time" /> The following week, the cover featured Morris and his wife, Eileen McGann, and the headline read "The Morris Mess: After the Fall."<ref name="Skunk">{{cite journal|title=Skunk at the Family Picnic|lastname=Pooley|firstname=Eric|journal=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985081,00.html|date=September 9, 1996|accessdate=2009-03-25}}</ref> | |||
| ===Later work=== | |||
| In his 1997 book ''],'' Morris wrote that, following an argument in the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, he strode toward the exit and was tackled by Clinton. In 2003, Morris further stated that Clinton cocked his arm back to throw a punch, but Hillary Clinton pulled her husband off Morris. In both versions of the story, she consoled Morris and apologized to him, stating that Bill only behaved such with those he cared for most. According to Morris, she did this to keep him quiet about the incident. He says the incident was the reason for denying Bill Clinton's request to work on the 1992 campaign; whether this actually happened and Clinton's side of the story is not known. | |||
| Morris has become a vocal and regular critic of the Clintons since his departure, in particular Hillary Rodham Clinton and her bid for the presidency. Morris has written extensively about the Clintons (see below) and also contributed to ], a documentary about Rodham Clinton when she was still a 2008 Presidential candidate.<ref></ref> Later, after former President Bill Clinton's comments about the similarities between the Obama win and the win of Presidential candidate Rev. ] in 1988, Morris put out an article on his blog that asserted that this was Clinton's way of injecting race into the political campaign.<ref></ref> | |||
| ==Other work== | |||
| {{Cleanup|date=January 2008}} | |||
| ===Political consulting=== | |||
| As of August, 2009, Morris lends his name and assistance to the League of American Voters, a group targeting seniors to try to defeat the Obama health care reform. He has been described as America's most ruthless political consultant in the BBC documentary Century of the Self Episode 4,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archive.org/details/AdamCurtisCenturyoftheSelfPart4of4_0 |title=Century of the Self Part4 of 4 |accessdate=2007-11-02}}(Dick Morris segment at ~34:45)</ref> which chronicled how he brought lifestyle marketing to politics for the first time. Morris told Clinton the way to winning was to throw out all ideology and treat politics as a consumer business—to target the swing voters and identify their personal desires and whims and then promise to fulfill them. (Century of the Self Part 4 ~36:00). Targeting the worries of the swing voters became all that mattered and issues such as the ] were the issues that became relevant. American suburbanite voters were running America's domestic policy and some of its foreign policy in the 1990s as the Clinton administration developed their political stance and strategies based on popular opinion polls, for example, the bombing of Bosnia. (Century of the Self Part 4 ~41:00). | |||
| Morris has also consulted for candidates in other countries of the western hemisphere, including the campaigns of ] for President of ] (1999), ] for President of ] (1999), ] for President of Mexico (2000), and ] for President of ] (2006). | |||
| Morris and Eileen McGann are behind , a site intended to register non-scientific political public opinion on various issues. | |||
| Dick Morris is currently working as a strategist for ], a Republican candidate for ] running to unseat incumbent ]. Morris will "oversee strategy, polling, and advertising for Mihos."<ref name=Mihos/> | |||
| ===Guest commentator and political prognosticator=== | |||
| Since leaving the Clintons' employ in 1996, Morris has said he has become profoundly "disillusioned" with the actions of the Clintons in the late 1990s. He has now formed a career as a political commentator and critic of the Clintons (particularly towards Hillary), appearing on ] programs such as '']'', '']'', and the '']'', and on various local and nationally ] radio ]. Morris is also a regular columnist and Pundits Blogger for ], a nonpartisan daily newspaper based in Washington, D.C., and for ], a conservative online news website.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.wikipedia.org/The_Hill_%28newspaper%29 |title=The Hill (newspaper) |accessdate=2008-05-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsmax.com/pundits/Morris.shtml |title=Dick Morris |accessdate=2007-11-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsmaxstore.com/nm/newsmax_pundits.cfm |title=NewsMax Pundits |accessdate=2007-11-02}}</ref> | |||
| Morris regularly makes predictions about candidates' chances of winning elections during these appearances. In a 2005 book on the upcoming 2008 Presidential campaign, Morris stated that it is most likely that Hillary Clinton would face ] for the presidency. Morris critics reacted by mocking his mistaken predictions of past races. Regarding the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, he initially stated that Howard Dean's candidacy could be written off right away. While ultimately vindicated, he had discussed the likelihood of Dean defeating John Kerry after early strong showings by the former Vermont governor. Kerry defeated Dean and all his other rivals and won the nomination. Additionally, Morris predicted that Hillary Clinton would face a "nightmare"{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} in her 2006 Senate race against moderate Republican candidate ], whose campaign subsequently collapsed within a matter of two months after repeated crushing defeats in the opinion polls due to her husband's alleged ] ties. He even went so far as to suggest that Clinton would "give up"{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} and drop out to focus on her 2008 campaign.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mediamatters.org/items/200512220002 |title=Morris correctly predicted early withdrawal from New York Senate race—but got candidate wrong |date=2005-12-21 |accessdate=2007-11-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,102322,00.html |title=Bush's Weapon Against Dean |date=2003-11-05 |first=Dick |last=Morris |accessdate=2007-11-02}}</ref> | |||
| Morris further wrote that Hurricane Katrina would mark Bush's second term the same way 9/11 marked his first term, saying: "Katrina has the capacity to shape the second Bush term in the same way September 11 shaped his first term—not only in rebuilding New Orleans but in taking preventative steps around the nation to bolster our defenses against natural and man-made disasters and terror strikes. Responding to disasters is a source of presidential strength and popularity, and Bush is about to show how it is done."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thehill.com/dick-morris/bush-will-rebound-from-katrina-missteps-2005-09-07.html |title=Bush will rebound from Katrina missteps |first=Dick |last= Morris |date=2005-09-07 |accessdate=2007-11-02}}</ref> | |||
| Appearing on Fox News' '']'' on January 29, 2008, Morris said that those voting for ] were "at the moment... those that can't decide which they don’t like more—a black or a woman getting elected".{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} Host ] asked if he was "saying that Edwards voters are bigots?"{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} Morris elaborated that exit polls showed some Edwards voters were unsure if a woman or a Black American, in reference to then Democratic Primary front runners Hillary Clinton and ], could get elected to the Presidency for the first time in '08.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/01/30/dick-morris-says-edwards-voters-dont-like-the-black-or-female-candidate |title=Dick Morris: Edwards voters don’t like the ‘black’ or the ‘female’ |first=John |last=Amato |date=2008-01-30 |accessdate=2008-01-31}}</ref> | |||
| After Obama won the 2008 election, Morris was critical of him. In early 2009, Morris said: "Those crazies in ] who say, 'We're going to kill ] agents because the ]’s going to take over'? Well, they’re beginning to have a case."<ref>{{Citation| last = Lyons| first = Gene|author-link = Gene Lyons|title = The Knothead Party| newspaper = ]| year = 2009 | date = April 9, 2009| url = http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Editorial/256882/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Morris: 'Those crazies in Montana who say, "We're going to kill ATF agents because the U.N.'s going to take over" -- well, they're beginning to have a case' | publisher = ]| date = March 31, 2009| url = http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200903310038 | format = video| accessdate = 2009-04-10}}</ref> In April 2009, Morris keynoted an animated debate at the ] on the topic | |||
| "Resolved: Save Capitalism from President Obama". The motion narrowly failed.<ref>http://www.yale.edu/ypu/minutes/ypu-2009-04-21.html</ref> | |||
| ===Foreign political consultant=== | |||
| {{Cleanup|date=February 2008}} | |||
| Morris worked with the ] in their campaign before the ]. The party, which advocates withdrawal from the ], won 12 of ]'s 78 seats. | |||
| In 2004 and 2005, he and his wife had acted as campaign consultants to the successful ] Presidential campaign in ]. Morris reports that he insisted on the use of ]s as a means of potentially exposing ] tampering. He argues this played a significant role in forcing the government of then President ] to acquiesce to a new poll when the official results of the first varied materially from the exit surveys. Interestingly, faced with a similar (though smaller) divergence between exit polling and election returns, he took the opposite stance in a 2004 article in ''The Hill'' when he suspected "foul play" on the part of the exit pollsters in the U.S. Presidential race.<ref>http://thehill.com/dick-morris/those-faulty-exit-polls-were-sabotage-2004-11-04.html</ref> | |||
| Mexico 2004; Morris outlined the strategy of the negative campaign that would be used against the ] and ]: “The PRD would be a disaster for Mexico, the country would go in the same direction as Chávez and Castro.”{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} That is to say, López Obrador would be “a danger to Mexico,”{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} as Rob Allyn said in an article published on April 3, 2006, published in the New York Post. | |||
| In a November 13, 2007 press conference in ], ], Morris announced that he would be offering his consultancy services ] for the campaign to elect ] as President of Kenya in the ] running on the ] ticket. | |||
| With four weeks to the National Elections, an editorial in one of the leading dailies called into question the legalities of Dick Morris' consulting work from the perspective of his presence in, and lack of legal ability to work in Kenya "pro bono" or "through the back door".<ref>The Standard, November 22, 2007: </ref> | |||
| The outcome of the December 27, 2007 elections in Kenya is still disputed due to allegations of electoral fraud and rigging by the incumbent president, ], the ] and erroneous reporting by the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK). Massive protests and tribal tensions have since erupted between the president's ] tribe and the majority of other tribes not favorably aligned to the outcome. Major mediations have commenced between concerned parties, including possible formation of a coalition and/or interim government until reelections are performed. | |||
| ===Morris' DVD=== | |||
| Morris has appeared in the documentary film '']'', a response to ]'s ] film, '']''. He also wrote the ]. | |||
| ===Tax troubles=== | |||
| Morris had been labeled as one of the biggest tax delinquents in his home state of Connecticut, owing an estimated $280,000 in unpaid taxes and a total of $452,367 in unpaid taxes and fees.<ref>http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=6134720</ref><ref name="a.abcnews.com">http://a.abcnews.com/Business/PersonalFinance/Story?id=4650368&page=3</ref> In 2003 the IRS filed a $1.5 million tax lien against him. Morris said that he has reached an agreement with Connecticut and his name will be removed from the next delinquency list. Morris says that he is committed to paying his taxes: "Following a difficult period in my life, I fell into arrears. But since then, I have paid almost $3 million in state and federal taxes."<ref name="a.abcnews.com"/> | |||
| ==Books== | |||
| ]'s ''Living History'' with his book ''Rewriting History''.]] | |||
| Morris has written several books. He authored '']'' (subtitled ''The next great presidential race'') (ISBN 0-06-083913-9) in which he argues that only ] could block Hillary Clinton's anticipated 2008 bid for the White House. He co-authored this book with his wife, Eileen McGann. | |||
| Previously he wrote a pair of books criticizing the Clintons, again co-authored by his wife, Eileen McGann. ''Rewriting History'' (ISBN 0-06-073668-2) was published in May 2004 as a rebuttal to Hillary Clinton's book, '']'' (ISBN 0-7432-2224-5). In it, he argues that Hillary Clinton has presented a false "nice" persona in the book. Morris instead remembers her as manipulative, cold, and single-minded in her pursuit of power. Similarly, Morris and McGann wrote ''Because He Could'' (ISBN 0-06-078415-6) in response to Bill Clinton's memoir ''My Life'' (ISBN 0-375-41457-6). | |||
| Morris has also written ''Behind the Oval Office: Winning the Presidency in the Nineties'' (ISBN 1-58063-053-7), a retrospective of his work with the Clintons that was published soon after his resignation from the campaign in 1996. Other books include ''Power Plays: Win or Lose—How History's Great Political Leaders Play the Game'' (ISBN 0-06-000444-4), ''The New Prince'' (ISBN 1580631479 ),''Vote.com: How Big-Money Lobbyists and the Media Are Losing Their Influence, and the Internet Is Giving Power Back to the People'' (ISBN 1-58063-163-0)and "Outrage" (ISBN 978-0-06-119540-2). | |||
| Dick Morris and Eileen McGann's latest collaboration is ''Fleeced: How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want To Kill Talk Radio, The Do-Nothing Congress, Companies That Help Iran, And Washington Lobbyists For Foreign Governments Are Scamming Us...And What To Do About It '' (ISBN 9780061718663), published in June 2008. Its jacket copy states, "In this hard-hitting call to arms, Dick Morris and Eileen McGann reveal the hundreds of ways American tax-payers are routinely fleeced--by our own government; by foreign countries like Dubai that are gobbling up American interests and spending millions to influence government decisions and American public opinion; by Washington lobbying firms that are pushing the agendas of corrupt foreign dictators on Capitol Hill; and by hedge-fund billionaires collecting huge tax breaks courtesy of the IRS." The book also predicts how election of Obama would ruin the economy and lead to a stock market collapse. | |||
| His latest book is "Catastrophe", which was released in June 2009. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{Cleanup-link rot|date=June 2009}} | |||
| *{{cite web |last=Conason |first=Joe |date=2008-04-09 |url=http://ccinsider.comedycentral.com/cc_insider/2008/09/jon-stewart-ann.html |title=Daily show |publisher=comedycentral.com |accessdate=2008-03-09}} | |||
| *{{cite web |last=Conason |first=Joe |date=2003-06-12 |url=http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2003/06/12/morris/index.html |title=Setting Dick Morris straight |publisher=Salon.com |accessdate=2004-10-14}} | |||
| *{{cite web |url=http://www.newsmax.com/pundits/bios/Morris-bio.shtml |title=Dick Morris Biography |publisher=NewsMax.com |accessdate=2004-10-14}} | |||
| *{{cite web |url=http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/040615012643.oukbjuqc |title=Clinton ex-adviser gives boost to Britain's anti-EU party |date=2004-06-15 |publisher=EUBusiness |accessdate=2004-10-14}} | |||
| *{{cite magazine |last=Morris |first=Dick |date=2003-06-12 |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-morris061203.asp |title=Setting the Record Straight: An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton |journal=National Review Online |accessdate=2004-10-14}} | |||
| *{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/august96/panel_morris_8-29.html |title=NewsHour Transcript: The Morris Resignation |date=1996-08-29 |publisher=Online NewsHour |accessdate=2004-10-14}} | |||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| *, Dick Morris Blog and Opinion Site | |||
| *, Dick Morris online polling site | |||
| * | |||
| *]] | |||
| * DC District Court Opinion: Hillary The Movie | |||
| * Primary Donor to the movie and Supreme Court elections in West Virginia. | |||
| <!-- Metadata: see ] --> | |||
| {{Persondata | |||
| |NAME= Morris, Dick | |||
| |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= | |||
| |SHORT DESCRIPTION=Political author and commentator | |||
| |DATE OF BIRTH=1948-11-28 | |||
| |PLACE OF BIRTH= | |||
| |DATE OF DEATH= | |||
| |PLACE OF DEATH= | |||
| }} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Dick}} | |||
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