Rearranging the Deck Chairs?

In a choreographed show of support, the president appeared with McClellan on the South Lawn and said that "he handled his assignment with class, integrity."

"I have given it my all, sir," said McClellan, who plans to stay another two to three weeks.

Senior administration officials, who declined to be named while discussing personnel matters, said two people affiliated with Fox News are being considered as replacements. One is Fox radio host Tony Snow, a former speechwriter for the first President Bush who went on to anchor "Fox News Sunday." Snow, who survived a bout with colon cancer last year, told listeners that it is "an honor to be considered" but that anyone in his position would have to weigh family, finances and personal health.

Dan Senor, a Fox News contributor and former spokesman for the U.S. civilian authority in Iraq, is also being considered. Senor married NBC anchor and correspondent Campbell Brown earlier this month.

Despite published speculation, Clarke said yesterday she has not been approached about the job.

Some past presidential spokesmen -- Jody Powell, Marlin Fitzwater and Mike McCurry among them -- have used wit and whispers to find ways to be helpful to reporters even while furthering the boss's goals. But McClellan did not wink, nod or freelance, sticking closely to the day's script.

"This president was interested in diminishing the role of the press secretary," said David Gregory, NBC's chief White House correspondent. "Our collective frustration with him and Ari was with the fact that you just couldn't get answers out of this group. . . . Scott had the advantage of being well regarded and trusted by the inner circle. But he was just as cautious as anybody else about going further than the president wanted him to go from the podium, and that limited the White House's ability to drive a story."

But White House communications director Nicolle Wallace, who is expected to leave to join her husband in New York, praised McClellan's performance, saying: "The measure is not your ability to rein in the hotblooded passions of the room. The measure is how you handle yourself and your ability to keep your cool." She said that seven years in Bush's service, including two campaigns, would wear anyone down.

A new communications team is often brought in during politically difficult times. Larry Speakes resigned as Ronald Reagan's spokesman soon after the Iran-contra scandal erupted. Clinton replaced George Stephanopoulos at the podium with Dee Dee Myers after a stumbling start to his first term, and replaced Myers with McCurry after the Democrats lost both houses of Congress.

The White House briefing room has long been the scene of heated battles, which have grown louder and more theatrical since the advent of televised briefings in 1995. Republican strategists say the proliferation of media outlets and a more partisan political climate have put White House spokesmen under a constant state of siege.

"The press creates an environment where it's going to be very hard for any press secretary to last long," Fleischer said.

"The White House press secretary says black, the press corps says white," Clarke said. "It's almost become a reflex."