Dick Morris

Member For

20 weeks 6 days

Website:

DickMorris.com

BIOGRAPHY

Dick Morris, one of the nation's most prominent political consultants, is almost universally credited with piloting Bill Clinton to a stunning comeback re-election victory in 1996, after the president lost Congress to the Republicans two years before. Called “the most influential private citizen in America” by Time magazine, Morris helped steer Clinton to the center and away from the liberal policies he had pursued in his first two years in office. Morris is also credited with advising Clinton to sign the welfare reform bill of 1996 and getting him to back a balanced budget, both key centrist positions.

Morris began his relationship with Clinton in 1977, when he handled the Arkansas attorney general's successful campaign to become the youngest governor in the nation. Morris did not work on Clinton's defeat for re-election in 1980, but he did oversee his comeback victory in 1982, as well as his re-election victories in 1984, 1986 and 1990.

In addition to Clinton, Morris has handled the winning campaigns for more than 30 senators and governors, including Republican Senator and former Majority Leader Trent Lott and former Govs. Bill Weld of Massachusetts and Pete Wilson of California.

In recent years, Morris has turned to foreign campaigns and served as chief strategist for Mexico's reformer Vicente Fox in his upset victory in July 2000 over the PRI, after that party had ruled the nation for 71 years. He also was the chief strategist for the winning campaigns of Fernando de la Rua (Argentina), Jorge Battle (Uruguay), Chen Shui-bian (Taiwan) and, most recently, for Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian presidential candidate who was poisoned during his campaign. He also handled the winning campaign for the new president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon.

In the United States, Morris has become a familiar figure as a commentator for Fox News. He is well known for hard-hitting, nonpartisan, objective commentary about the U.S. political scene. He writes a weekly column for the New York Post, another for The Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C., and another for Fox News.

Morris has written 10 books, including six New York Times best sellers. His most recent, written with his wife, Eileen McGann, is "Outrage: How Illegal Immigration, the U.N., Congressional Ripoffs, Student Loan Overcharges, Tobacco Companies, Trade Protection and Drug Companies Are Ripping Us Off ... and What to Do About It."

The other best-sellers are: "Behind the Oval Office" (his memoir about the Clinton years), "Off With Their Heads" (about the war on terror), "Rewriting History" (a biography of Hillary Clinton he wrote with his wife, McGann), "Because He Could" (about Bill Clinton, also with McGann) and "Condi vs. Hillary" (promoting Condoleezza Rice for president, written with Mcgann). His other books are: "Power Plays," "Vote.com," "The New Prince" and "Bum Rap on American Cities," which he wrote in the '70s.

In November 1999, Morris founded a website in the United States called Vote.com, where people may log on to vote on the major issues of the day. Their opinions are then e-mailed to their senators and representatives and to other significant decision-makers. Over 3 million people have used this site to express their opinions.

As part of his work with Vote.com, Dick -- along with McGann -- founded Legalvote.com, an online jury focus group service. They have conducted online focus groups in over 100 cases, and their clients include two of the top insurance companies in the United States, as well as many of the major plaintiff lawyers in the nation.

Morris lives with McGann, his wife of 30 years, in Florida.

COMMENTARIES

63 Days to See a Doctor in Boston

By Dick Morris | 11/18/09

Joseph Stubbs, President of the American College of Physicians -- the second largest doctors' group in the country -- confirms that "the supply of doctors just won't be there" for the 30 million new patients Barack Obama wants to cover. Noting that the doctor shortage is "already a catastrophic crisis," Stubbs said that underserved areas in the U.S. currently need almost 17,000 new primary care physicians even before... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Painting a Bull's Eye on New York City

By Dick Morris | 11/15/09

President Obama's decision to put Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on trial in New York City along with four others accused of helping destroy the World Trade Center and attack the Pentagon on 9-11 paints a bull's-eye for terrorists right on New York City, their favorite target. Now Obama has identified where the terrorists should focus their energies -- on New York City. His decision to bow to political correctness and not to try Mohammed at a secure... read more »

1 Comment | Related Topics »National |

Defeat PelosiCare on These Key Points

By Dick Morris | 11/15/09

Harry Reid can pass a bill in the Senate that has no public option or an easy opt out, shallow subsidies for the uninsured, a low total cost, weak penalties for not having insurance, no coverage for abortion and no general tax increase (except for the premium and medical device taxes). And Nancy Pelosi can pass a bill in the House (on final passage) that has a public option with no opt out, steep subsidies for the uninsured, harsh penalties... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Healthcare Vote Exposed the Myth of the Moderate Democrat

By Dick Morris | 11/11/09

Don't assume that the 38 Democrats who voted against Nancy Pelosi's extremist version of health care reform wouldn't have supported it if their votes had been needed. The days before the final passage on Saturday were not filled with stirring appeals to get Democrats to back the bill so much as an auction to decide whom to let off the hook. Knowing that the bill will likely be political suicide for any red state Democratic congressman,... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Health Care Reform Endorsements: Bought and Paid For

By Dick Morris | 11/07/09

As the suicidal Democratic congressmen proceed to rubber-stamp the Obama health care reform despite the drubbing their party took in the '09 elections, the president trotted out the endorsements of the AMA and the AARP to stimulate support. But these -- and the other endorsements -- his package has received are all bought and paid for. Here are the deals: The American Medical Association (AMA) was facing a 21 percent cut in physicians... read more »

7 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Survey: 45% of Doctors Would Consider Retiring Under Obamacare

By Dick Morris | 11/04/09

After more than a decade of public health care with mandatory coverage, so many Canadian doctors have left the practice and so many young people have entered other fields that Canada ranks 26th of 28 developed nations in its ratio of physicians to population. Once, Canada ranked among the leaders in the number of physicians -- but that was before government health care drove doctors out of the practice in droves. The fundamental fact is that... read more »

5 Comments | Related Topics »National |

National Healthcare? Government Couldn't Even Get Flu Vaccine Straight

By Dick Morris | 10/31/09

How can the government pretend that it can manage, overhaul, streamline and reform the health care system in the United States when it can't even deliver enough flu shots to prevent a pandemic? We have seen the H1N1 virus coming for over a year. It is no surprise that much of America needs vaccination. It was no secret that the flu season was approaching. But, now that it is upon us, we find ourselves pathetically short of shots. One year... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Harry Reid's Healthcare Bait and Switch

By Dick Morris | 10/28/09

Harry Reid had two problems. How would he get the health care bill out of the Senate Finance Committee without revealing the glaring potential fissures in his party over the public option on health care? And, how could he lend a veneer of bipartisanship to a one-party bill? He couldn't allow a vote on final passage out of the committee with a public option in the bill because he knew that he would lose Democrats and would have no GOP support.... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Healthcare Bill Provision Taxes All Manner of Medical Devices

By Dick Morris | 10/24/09

The more fiscal details of the health care bills emerge, the more appalling they seem. The Senate Finance Committee bill includes a broad provision taxing all manner of medical devices. This tax includes such frivolous luxuries as pacemakers, stents, artificial heart valves, defibrillators, automated wheelchairs, mechanized artificial limbs, replacement hips and knees, surgical gurneys, laparoscopic equipment and the like. President Obama is... read more »

4 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Hillary Demonstrates Stunning Naiveté on Iran's Nuclear Ambitions

By Dick Morris | 10/21/09

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has fallen for Iran's line that it is not developing nuclear weapons, but only wants the ability to develop one to achieve its place in the sun among the great nations of the earth. In an interview on a Sunday show and in a leak in The New York Times that seems to have come from her (since it uses the same language), she notes that "there's a small space for doubt (about Iran's intention to build a... read more »