Dick Morris

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21 weeks 1 day

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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

Obamacare Will Cost Families Dearly

By Dick Morris | 10/19/09

Whether or not you now have health insurance, Obama’s health care bill will cost you dearly. If you don’t have insurance, you will be required to buy it. The legislation specifies how much you will have to pay for the coverage before any subsidy kicks in. All during the campaign, Obama kept speaking about affordable coverage. Now it appears that his definition of “affordable” might be a bit elastic. If your household... read more »

7 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Insurance Premiums will Skyrocket Under Obamacare

By Dick Morris | 10/14/09

Will a young, healthy, childless individual or couple buy health insurance costing 7.5 percent of their income as required by Obama's health legislation? Not until they get sick. Then, they can always buy the insurance -- and the Obama bill requires the insurance companies to give it to them. And, if the premiums come to more than 7.5 percent of their income because they are now sick, no problem. Obama will subsidize it. Instead, young,... read more »

3 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Nobel Committee Using Peace Prize to Influence U.S. Politics

By Dick Morris | 10/10/09

Whether it was rewarding Jimmy Carter for criticizing the Iraq War or supporting Al Gore in his crusade against global warming, the Norwegian Parliament -- which chooses the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize -- has sought to use the award as a political tool to influence American politics. Its prestige and moral power make the prize a potent weapon with which to help steer the direction of the colossus beyond the seas that controls a quarter of... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Olympia Snowe Could Derail GOP in Healthcare Battle

By Dick Morris | 10/07/09

Watch how Maine Republican Olympia Snowe and Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln vote in the Senate Finance Committee on the Baucus version of the Obama health care plan. As Snowe and Lincoln go, so will the Congress. The Democrats need Snowe's vote desperately to convince wavering moderate Democrats that they can offer a veneer, however thin, of bipartisanship to the health proposal. If Snowe, their last chance at a Republican vote, opposes the... read more »

3 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Democrats Push for Crippling Amendments to Patriot Act

By Dick Morris | 10/05/09

If only terrorists would be so accommodating as not to change cell phones, the new curbs on the Patriot Act being pushed by Democrats in Congress would not be so dangerous. But, unfortunately, even a book titled "Terrorism for Dummies" would tell them to use multiple cell phones to plot their mayhem. In the aftermath of Oklahoma City, President Clinton asked Congress for authority to order roving wiretaps, targeting the terror suspect... read more »

1 Comment | Related Topics »National |

Obama's AARP Deal is Special Interest Politics at Its Worst

By Dick Morris | 10/03/09

Among the $500 billion in Medicare cuts that will provide the bulk of the financing for Obama's health care plan is a $160 billion to $180 billion cut in the Medicare Advantage program, which offers a range of benefits not available to beneficiaries under basic Medicare. Medicare Advantage should be Obama's favorite program. It combines all the elements he likes -- premiums are subsidized for low-income elderly, and the companies negotiate... read more »

5 Comments | Related Topics »National |

G-20 Summit: Obama Subjects U.S. Economic Policy to Global Consensus

By Dick Morris | 09/30/09

While all eyes were on the rantings of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations, the United States -- under President Obama -- was surrendering its economic sovereignty at the G-20 summit. The result of this conclave, which France's president Nicolas Sarkozy hailed as "revolutionary," was that all the nations agreed to coordinate their economic policies and programs and to submit them to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for... read more »

3 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Obamacare Endgame: A Massive Tax Increase for the American People

By Dick Morris | 09/23/09

Now that the various health care plans are being reduced to print, the financial details are emerging and with them a fundamental conclusion is becoming evident: The Obama plan is a giant tax increase for much of the American people (not just the rich). Start with the mandate that falls on those whose welfare is the supposed object of the entire program -- the uninsured. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the average uninsured person... read more »

3 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Public Support for Obamacare is Fading Fast

By Dick Morris | 09/19/09

The ups and downs of the published polls about Obama's health care proposals dramatically illustrate the ferocity of the headwinds he faces as he desperately tries to sell his program to a suspicious and wary public. Before Obama addressed the nation and a joint session of Congress, his proposals drew only 45 percent approval (Rasmussen). But after he spoke, support for his health care proposals rose until it peaked at 52 percent. Then, a scant... read more »

10 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Obama's Plan Would Lead to Reduced Medical Care for Elderly

By Dick Morris | 09/16/09

In his hour-long speech on health care, Barack Obama failed to spend even a moment rebutting the central critique of his program: His inability to provide quality medical care for 30 million new patients without any additional doctors or nurses. The shortage of medical personnel that will inevitably accompany the expansion of the patient population will leave some element -- and perhaps all -- without adequate care. Like the man who sleeps with... read more »