Republican political strategist Karl Rove defended the Iraq War and told students that the Republican Party will win the presidential election amid protesters and avid Republicans tonight at the Elliott School.

While Rove, the former chief of staff to President George Bush, stood behind the Bush administration’s claim that there weapons of mass destruction in Iraq during the late 1990’s, five students stood up in protest. Four students held a sign with the words “war crimes” written on it while another student shouted about the Nurenburg trials that led to the development of international criminal law.

“That’s intelligent,” Rove joked in response.

After the event, which was sponsored by the Young America’s Foundation, The Hatchet was granted an exclusive interview with Rove.

In the interview, Rove offered some advice to aspiring political strategists.

“Take every communications, writing and literature course you can,” he said. “To be effective, you must have all your communications skills developed.”

In regards to the election, Rove did not explicitly say who he thought the Democratic presidential nominee would be, but highlighted the success Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has had over Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

“Hillary has a tough up-hill battle to fight,” he said. “She needs to get 60 percent of each comming vote.”

On the Republican side of the presidential race, Rove said Sen. John McCain’s biggest problem is his monetary issues.

“McCain needs to raise more money,” Rove said of the Arizona senator. “He is significantly out-raised by the Democrats and must be careful about spending.”

Rove said he, unlike some of his predecessors, loved working at the White House. But, the best thing he has done “was to leave DC at the age of 23 and make a political name for myself.”

Check out The Hatchet’s fully story on the Rove event online for Monday’s Hatchet.

-Danielle Meister