The view must look nice from inside Bush’s bubble

Newsweek had a great item this week on one of my favorite issues: the never-ending White House drive to host exclusive, sycophant-only gatherings for Bush.

For example, there was an event in Tampa last month where Bush heard exactly what he wanted to hear.

The White House likes to call them “regular folks” — people with real-life questions about the president’s agenda. Only some are more regular than others. Carlos Huertas was billed as a concerned grandfather and hard-working engineer when he sat onstage next to President Bush to talk about retirement accounts in downtown Tampa, Fla., last month.

“The thing I like about the proposed reforms in Social Security,” Huertas said, “is that, just like I do on the 401(k), I can invest in the market where I get a better return.” The president nodded his head in agreement. “We’re not talking about, you know, needing to become a great financial analyst in order to make decisions,” Bush told his town-hall style audience.

Anyone watching Huertas might be willing to believe the White House spin that he’s just another “regular” person who’s convinced that Bush is right, but there’s a lot more to it. Huertas is actually an activist for a conservative group called FreedomWorks, which not only helped with Bush’s 2004 campaign, but is now helping lead the drive to privatize Social Security. Indeed, as Joshua Holland noted, FreedomWorks is the result of a merger between Citizens for a Sound Economy and Empower America, Bill Bennett’s outfit.

FreedomWorks officials tell Newsweek they have worked closely with the administration to coordinate the town halls, often suggesting names of the people onstage. At least five of its activists have appeared with Bush, and the group has bused hundreds to eight of his events in recent weeks. By the group’s own tally, at least one third of the audience in Tampa were FreedomWorks members.

It’s gotten to the point in which the Bush gang has to rehearse town hall meetings.

The president took the show to Westfield, N.J., last week, where he talked with a small business owner, a stay-at-home mom and a recent college graduate. Bush received respectful coverage from the town’s newspaper, the Westfield Leader, which said the meeting was simply meant to “gauge opinions of New Jerseyans.” In fact, a day before the event, an advance team of White House officials held a dress rehearsal for the participants so they could fine-tune their testimonials. They do this before each show, usually with a stand-in playing Bush. It helps the people “say things clearer,” says one FreedomWorks member.

I realize this starts to sound like a broken record after a while, but it continues to be a breathtaking exercise in stagecraft. Tickets are carefully distributed through Republicans, only Republicans are allowed in (even Dems with tickets are excluded), only ideologues can speak, when they speak they have to ask softball questions to the president, and before the president shows up, many participants have to go through a dress rehearsal the day before so the performance goes smoothly. It has all the spontaneity and integrity of a communist show trial.

Oh, just as a reminder, I thought I’d add that we’re paying for all of these events.