Don’t call it a comeback

April 1, 2006

[tag]Fred Barnes[/tag], Bush cheerleader to a fault, still seems convinced that a presidential comeback is right around the corner. In fact, in the latest issue of The Weekly Standard, Barnes addresses a game plan that could set Bush’s ship straight.

* Staff shakeup. The president has a problem with firing anyone. Unlike most presidents, he’s loyal to his staff, especially those who’ve been with him for years. Thus, it was highly significant that he allowed Andy Card to fall on his sword during a bad spell for Bush and quit as White House chief of staff. Now the president has braced himself for the pain of more staff switches. He’s given the new chief, [tag]Josh Bolten[/tag], carte blanche to make personnel changes. They’d better be sweeping. If they are, Bush can create the aura and energy of a new presidency, one ready to overcome troubles and do big things again. […]

* Chats with Congress. The pace of presidential gatherings at the White House with Senate and House members has accelerated noticeably in recent weeks. […]

* Open door. Along with his meetings with members of Congress, the president’s off-the-record chats with small groups of Washington reporters and his Q-and-A sessions following speeches destroy the image that he’s insulated and out of touch. […]

* Policy shifts. No one should expect the president to change his policies on fundamental issues like Iraq and taxes. But there are old policies he could reemphasize and new ones he could adopt.

I’m not sure which president Barnes is used to watching, but if he’s thinking about [tag]George W. Bush[/tag], and he thinks this four-part strategy will work, he’s imbibed a little too much Kool Aid.

If there’s wisdom in changing the WH staff, Bush is off to a bad start. As Jon Stewart put it the other day, by tapping Bolten, Bush didn’t reach out, he reached across the hall. The new boss is most certainly the same as the old boss. Just as importantly, even if Bolten makes a few personnel changes, there’s no reason to think it will change the way Bush personally operates.

Policy shifts seem highly unlikely at this point. Barnes mentioned immigration changes as a possibility, but just yesterday, Bush dug in his heels even more. This president is not above flip-flopping, but it’s hard to see a) where he’d reverse himself; and b) how this might help his presidency.

The other two are pure fluff, pointing to a friendlier president who will chat with people he finds annoying (lawmakers and reporters). With an approval rating in freefall, a disappointed electorate, and a war that grows more disconcerting by the day, it’s a little late for charm offensive.

I don’t blame Barnes for trying; I’m sure all of the GOP establishment wants to see Bush somehow reverse his fortunes. I just don’t see how it’s possible anytime soon, and based on this four-part plan, neither does Barnes.

According to Bruce Bartlett: “Bush Plays the Same Old Hand.”

  • This administration has the look; the feel; the sound-effects of an old film re-enacting the sinking of the Titanic. You take a bunch of stuffed-shirt types, give them a nice supply of false belief, and have them chatter away about being “patriotic Americans” while the deck is listing a full 30* down, and ice-cold seawater is seeping into the room. It’ll be fun to watch whether these minions-of-state go down with the ship—or if they all cut-n-run, trying to save their own sniping little hides, once defeat is finally acknowledged as irreversible….

  • Wasn’t this the guy who wanted to demote Cheney to Defense and promote Rice to Veep? Like that was going to happen.

  • They are busy setting the stage for the fall election. A comeback is a part of the strategy but not just yet. The imigration issue is a front to take the heat off Iraq, grab the headlines away from Iraq and onto a benine issue. Iraq will cool down a bit through the red hot summer, (insurgency is seasonal). It’s also an opportunity to force Democrats to take a stand the Republicans can criticize during the campaign. It doesn’t matter which way the Democratic candidate voted it will be presented to the voter by the media, free, over and over again, and with the bias that makes the Democrat look like an idiot. Remember, 2004, Kerry with three purple hearts was made into a coward, scoundrel, un Amerucan, disloyal, you name it, while ANG Bush became a war hero. That was pure media and free to the Republicans.

  • It’s sure wierd to see some people build a cult of personality around a guy who’s personality is either offensive or nonexistent. I guess they can project what they want onto Shruby and he can do the stick up his ass swagger well enough to haul their dreams.

    Fred W. Barnes is in Shrubluv.

  • There are only 2 words that would turn around Bush’s approval ratings – “I resign”

  • I’m sitting on the bench here with other members of our team. It’s frustrating to watch our guys on the field standing around discussing what the other side is saying and doing, projecting into the future what the other side might say or do, but not actually doing anything themselves. I guess I won’t be surprised when the opposition walks casually into our territory, past our team, and scores yet another goal.

  • slip kid no more, when I clicked on your link I was directed to a page on which I was informed that I needed Times Select to read the article. You can create permalinks to Times article by going to
    http://nytimes.blogspace.com/genlink
    and filling the URL. It will spit out a premalink for you.

  • Given that George Dubai-ya Bush is even more demented and deluded than she was, he probably should be screaming Norma Desmond’s “It’s not a comeback–It’s a return!” And that, really, is what staff changes are for Bush. Same-old, same-old. His (godawful) presence continues.

  • Dubya’s is a failed presidency and he will be utterly irrelevant in seven months after the mid-term elections.

    His administration’s failures are just too grievous and deep-seated to allow for any positive “spin,” happy talk, or window dressing at this late date:

    -his disastrous mis-calculation in Iraq has belied his declaration of victory
    -his tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans have brought back ruinous budget deficits
    -his efforts to privatize Social Security failed (thank God) because he pandered to Wall Street
    -his medicare prescription plan is in shambles because he pandered to the pharmaceutical and insurance companies…

    Last summer Hurricane Katrina underscored the shocking incompetence of this administration in the face of disaster – after the failed apparatus of the Bush administration was revealed it was impossible to ignore it again…

    I’d like to suggest to Fred Barnes that he repeat after me: “failed presidency, failed presidency, failed presidency…”

  • I shudder to think of what our nation would be like if the repub leader was (don’t laugh too loudly, ok?) smart, extremely competent, well-liked by heads of state, but incomparably evil.

    In other words, a repub with the charm of Clinton and endorsing and enforcing the policies of the current administration.

    If the press could foist a fucking dimwit disphit on the nation….

  • All the kings horses and all the kings men can’t put the W in W again.

    If there was any evidence that shrub himself had grown in the role as president, a staff retooling might help. But we see the same incurious, stubborn, stumble for the rolodex of talking points, GW that has disgraced the office from the get go. Rome burns while W fumbles for something assinine to say.

    We need to put GW in the brain scan machine. Then subject all future candidates for president to the same. If any of them comes closely to matching the image of Bush’s brain, he is automatically disqualified for the office. Something just ain’t right about that boy. Too bad the old man did not take him up on the challenge, mano a mano, and seriously kicked his ass.

  • “his efforts to privatize Social Security failed (thank God) because he pandered to Wall Street” – ricardo

    And thank god too. I’m 45 and at the tail end of the Baby Boom. If we had privatized Social Security, and all my money was tied up in Wall Street investments, exactly who would be buying them off me when I turn 69? Talk about a losing proposition. My wife and I would be thrown on the charity of our daughter.

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