Bush: It's Mukasey or Nothing

Blog Bashing

Bush's biggest applause line before his audience of true believers yesterday: "When it comes to funding our troops, some in Washington should spend more time responding to the warnings of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and the requests of our commanders on the ground, and less time responding to the demands of MoveOn.org bloggers and Code Pink protesters."

Faiz Shakir blogs for ThinkProgress: "With his anemic presidency on the rocks, Bush has resorted to battling with bloggers and war protesters for relevance."

The Pen-and-Pad

James Gerstenzang writes in the Los Angeles Times: "In his campaign to win the public relations battle with the Democratic Congress, Bush has every reason to try something new -- or old. Thursday's effort was one of several recent steps he has taken to amplify his message as he wrestles with his lame-duck status, low approval ratings and increasingly independent congressional Republicans.

"On Monday, the president spent an hour with 14 reporters in an off-the-record session -- meaning what he said could not be reported -- to offer those assigned to the White House a rare look at his thinking on a variety of issues. He did the same in September, speaking aboard Air Force One with reporters while traveling to Sydney, Australia, from Iraq's Anbar Province. . . .

"Among the president's senior staff, reaching back to a 1950s-era communications model was tagged as 'throwback jersey day,' after the occasional sports-team promotions in which the players wear old-time uniforms.

"Close observers of the presidency and presidential communications question whether any of the options -- including the new approach Bush tried Thursday -- will suffice.

"'This is a small tactical step but not something that fundamentally changes the dynamic of the Bush administration and the agenda they are pushing,' said Kenneth M. Duberstein, who was chief of staff in the final six months of Ronald Reagan's presidency and part of the team that pulled the White House out of the mire of the Iran-Contra weapons-trading scandal."

At yesterday's press briefing, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino explained the genesis of the session.

Perino: "Well, we're always looking for ways to do additional communication here at the White House, and provide more access for reporters. It was just a new tool we'd like to have in our tool box. I hope we use it again."

Question: "So is it part of sort of a new communications strategy at this point?"

Perino: "I'm going to say it was an additional tool that we added."

Question: "Is there something that sparked this, though? Did the President have something specific in mind that he thought -- was he jumping from what other Presidents might have done in the past? (Laughter.)"