The NYT’s Elisabeth Bumiller had an item the other day about the Bush campaign’s policy on only meeting adoring fans and answering questions exclusively from pre-arranged, fawning audiences. The item, however, had an interesting tidbit.
As of this coming Wednesday in Wisconsin, Mr. Bush will have had 12 such campaign forums, which is one less than the number of solo news conferences he has had in three and a half years in the White House.
I realize that few outside the “political junkie” community care about how many press conferences the president has, but I nevertheless found this statistic telling.
Bush has demonstrated that he is essentially terrified of the White House press corps. As Jon Chait recently noted, “Since Franklin Roosevelt made press conferences a regular feature, Bush has held fewer of them than any president.” At this point in his presidency, Clinton had held 41 solo press conferences, while Bush’s father had hosted 77. Maybe this Bush is just shy.
The typical White House spin is that the president is a busy man who simply doesn’t have time to answer questions from reporters. But that’s what makes Bumiller’s observation interesting — Bush has the time to answer plenty of questions, so long as they’re coming from sycophantic admirers who won’t ask him anything more difficult than, “How do you maintain your youthful good looks?”
The numbers speak for themselves. Just this year, Bush has answered toadying questions from loyal supporters, on average, about once every three weeks. In contrast, Bush has addressed the White House press corps throughout his presidency, on average, once every three-and-a-half months.
It’s a relatively minor point, but John Kerry is committed to a more open and forthright presidency.
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry said Tuesday he would hold news conferences at least once a month if elected in November.
“I don’t have anything to hide,” he declared.
Kerry’s pledge drew applause from supporters at a rally in Beloit, about 75 miles southwest of Milwaukee, as he promised to “stand up and tell the truth to the American people.”
“I want America to know what I’m doing,” he said. “I want you to know what I’m fighting for. I want you to ask me questions.”
A president who welcomes questions. What a concept.