Karl Rove, senior adviser to Former President George W. Bush and a polarizing figure in America’s political discourse, gave a lecture Wednesday in Call Auditorium that some students said was unexpectedly civil.

While specific precautions were taken, like enlisting twelve security officials who bordered the audience and conducting the session with questions written on note cards, for the most part, audience members conveyed their opinions through peaceful means, whether by clapping in support or quietly exiting in dissent.

Rove, also, made attempts to lighten the mood, offering the audience a few anecdotes from his mentor, Former President George H.W. Bush, whom he admiringly calls “41.”

But Rove did not hold back. On the contrary, the lecture, titled “Thoughts on 2012,” quickly turned from a political forecast into a critique of what Rove saw as the failed policies of President Barack Obama’s first two years in office. Rove said that the candidate who can best articulate a way forward on the government’s ineffective stimulus plan and exorbitant domestic policies will win the neck-and-neck race for the Republican party nomination.

“It’s really going to be an interesting contest to watch,” he said.

Rather than discuss the Republican hopefuls, however, Rove undertook an in-depth, by-the-numbers look at the problems currently facing America’s economy, which included a strong rebuke of Obama’s health care reform. Rove detailed all of the problems and none of the the problems that the candidates will have to tackle in 2012.

Obama piled up more debt in the first 20 months than his predecessor did in this entire eight years, Rove said. He argued that, since the country’s financial burden is likely to double again in the next ten years, the nation’s economic problems are a “toxic stew.”  Health care legislation, according to Rove, only added insult to injury to America’s financial woes.

Rove argued that, despite claims that the Affordable Healthcare for America Act is necessary to insure 46 million Americans without healthcare, in fact, only 5 million “working poor” require governmental assistance. He contended that the bill includes protection for groups such as illegal immigrants and those who are financially able but opt out of healthcare plans.

Rove further criticized the bill, which was sold as reducing the deficit, as “Bernie Madoff-style economics.”

“It assumes a $143 billion deficit,” Rove said. “The problem is that’s wrong. It assumes $115 billion in discretionary cost of implementing … They take money and spend it twice.”

For most of his speech, Rove included many facts and figures, displaying his experience with federal legislation as well as public opinion.

“In the 2010 midterm election, independents came out in favor of Republicans by a 59 [percent] to 38 [percent] margin — this is a 24 [percent] difference from the 2008 presidential election and 36 [percent] from the congressional election. The driving force behind independents at the polls was a hostility to Affordable Health Care Act,” Rove said.

Although foreign policy came up briefly in the question and answer when an audience member posed a question about U.S. involvement in the Libyan civil war, Rove said that foreign policy is not going to be the major debate of the upcoming election.

The audience’s reception was polarized, with many audience members affirming their previously-held notions. Both sides, however, agreed upon the analytical mind of Rove, who is often called“the architect.”

“I came to see someone who understands the mechanics of politics inside and out, and I was not disappointed,” said Oliver Shank, an Ithaca resident.