Rove Questions Liberals' Sympathies

The PR Push

Ronald Brownstein writes in the Los Angeles Times: "President Bush launches a major effort this week to reinvigorate support for the war in Iraq, but he faces a fundamental question: Can his words about the conflict still move public opinion?"

The problem: "[M]any experts believe that events now enormously outweigh arguments in shaping U.S. attitudes about the conflict. That means that unless security in Iraq improves, Bush may find it extremely difficult to reverse the steady erosion of support for the war evident in recent public opinion polls. . . .

"If Bush seems too upbeat while Americans are seeing almost daily carnage in Iraq, he could appear out of touch or disingenuous," Brownstein writes, adding: "White House officials insist that Bush will not change direction, even if his new effort fails to rally public support."

Kenneth T. Walsh writes in U.S. News: "Senior Republicans are increasingly concerned that the once-vaunted White House PR machine is misfiring or not firing at all. A big problem, they say, is that senior aides to President Bush who used to deal directly with the media during his first term and the campaign don't have much time to talk to reporters anymore. . . .

"White House insiders tell U.S. News that new recruits to the West Wing are gun-shy about talking to reporters because they fear making a gaffe or being accused by colleagues of leaking to the media--a cardinal offense in Bushworld. White House officials are still wedded to message control, with everyone speaking with one voice according to a script. But in the first term, a handful of senior White House and campaign officials divided up 50 influential reporters in Washington and took turns calling them --- to keep the journalists up to date, give the administration's spin on events, and acquire intelligence on what the media were about to report. . . .

"Even Bush's solo press conferences --- which he is holding at the rate of one per month -- aren't doing much to impress voters. That appears to be because Bush says the same things over and over again."

The Capitol Hill Disconnect

Judy Keen and Kathy Kiely ask in USA Today why Bush isn't doing better with his agenda on Capitol Hill?

"The bottom line, according to political veterans and analysts: Republicans in Congress have to run again. Bush doesn't.

"Alan Simpson, a Wyoming Republican who served in the Senate leadership and is a friend of the Bush family, says the president's 'uncharacteristic rigidity' on some issues is causing heartburn for Republicans. 'They're thinking re-election and the president is asking them to go over a cliff,' he says."

Message: I Care

Jim VandeHei writes in The Washington Post: "President Bush sounded a bit like Bill Clinton yesterday, telling Americans who are out of work, short on cash or frustrated by the rapidly changing economy that he feels their pain.

"Speaking at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Lusby, Md., Bush delivered his standard call for a national energy policy with a new rhetorical twist -- an appeal to the millions of people not cashing in on global trade, the recent rounds of tax cuts or the business-friendly environment fostered by the president. . . .

"Bush did not promise new policies. Instead, a top aide said, the president was reviving a strategy first tested in 2002 to present his agenda as one aimed at the working man and woman. 'It's a familiar message . . . but one we have turned to again because we want people to consider the legislative priorities . . . in the context of a larger strategic goal of creating economic security for working families,' said a senior White House aide, who demanded anonymity to discuss the tactical shift."