By Peter Baker
Monday, January 21, 2008
Reporters covering President Bush 's Middle East trip, which ended last week, were in for a bit of a surprise when they showed up at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem for Bush's statement on peace negotiations. There they found an unexpected colleague -- NBC News correspondent David Gregory, who had not been on the press charter or on Air Force One.
Gregory, it turned out, flew to Israel solely for a one-on-one interview with Bush. He was one of three network reporters to fly in during the eight-day trip for separate, specially arranged sit-downs with the president, the others being Greta Van Susteren of Fox News and Terry Moran of ABC News. With television's heavy hitters having abandoned the White House to suffer the wilds of New Hampshire and South Carolina, the Bush team figured the best way to get attention for his trip in the midst of the primaries was to dole out "exclusive" interviews.
The strategy met with only modest success at best. Bush managed to get on some shows that otherwise might have ignored much of his trip, but it was hard to compete with the aftermath of comeback victories by John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Hampshire, no matter how many funny robes the president put on.
Despite the arresting pictures of Bush greeting foreign leaders and visiting the Church of the Nativity, Saudi King Abdullah's palatial estate near Riyadh and the desert camp of the sheiks of the United Arab Emirates, the president was an afterthought on the news back home. A study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism found that 49 percent of radio, television and newspaper coverage from Jan. 6 to 11 was devoted to the presidential campaigns, compared with just 4 percent that focused on Bush's trip.
Bush's aides understand that the nation's attention has naturally begun to shift to the search for his successor. The president still has a pulpit like no other to command the national dialogue -- witness how quickly he was able to reassert himself on the policy front by announcing Friday that he wants an economic stimulus package of about $145 billion. And a week from today, he will deliver what presumably will be his last State of the Union address on national television.
Administration strategists are resigned to the reality that, until the nomination battles are resolved in the coming weeks, the White House will not be the center of the universe. They hope that once the party nominees are made clear, there will be a window through spring to reassert themselves and get some things done with Congress before the political conventions at the end of summer.
But the calendar moves inexorably forward: As of today, Bush has less than a year to go in office.
Oh, That GuyEven the president seems to be having trouble remembering the Bush years as time dwindles down. Catch this exchange during a roundtable with reporters on the Middle East trip.
Reporter: "One of your own former officials, Bruce Riedel, told me a few weeks ago -- "
Bush: "Who?"
Reporter: "Bruce Riedel. He used to work on the NSC."
Oh, right. That Bruce Riedel.
When in Bahrain . . .We thought at first it was just our colleague, washingtonpost.com staff writer Chris Cillizza, who was going hirsute for the primary season. But then we caught a glimpse of the newly bearded White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten during the president's Middle East trip and began wondering if a trend was underway.
Apparently not. Turns out that Bolten, who somehow manages to be both workaholic policy wonk and Harley-riding rebel bachelor at the same time, was not making a permanent image makeover nor registering any kind of subtle protest. ( George Stephanopoulos grew a beard during his Clinton White House days to cover the fact that his face was breaking out from all the stress.)
And in fact, the beard is already gone. "I shaved it off yesterday morning," Bolten e-mailed on Friday. "It was an Xmas vacation beard that I extended for the MidEast trip, where it helped me blend in."
Sheik Josh? Hmm.
The Man for MoscowBush moved quickly last week to replace departing Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns with another guy named Burns, Ambassador William J. Burns from Moscow. Now as the president looks for a new envoy to the Kremlin, the buzz around town has it that he may pick a guy named John. Or maybe John. Or even John.
The names floating around the administration water coolers as possible contenders for the next Moscow ambassador are a trio of career diplomats: John M. Ordway, John R. Beyrle and John F. Tefft. All three have served as deputy chief of mission in Moscow in the past decade, and all three are ambassadors in places once part of the Soviet bloc: Ordway in Kazakhstan, Beyrle in Bulgaria and Tefft in Georgia.
Quote of the Week"I can tell you, when we get the legislation, we're going to run like a bunny here to get the relief out."
-- Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson on how fast tax rebate checks could get out if an economic stimulus package is passed.
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