Bush Gets the Bum's Rush

Matt Spetalnick writes for Reuters that Bush's "cameo appearance amounts to little more than a minute for each year of his two-term presidency. . . .

"White House spokeswoman Dana Perino earlier called it a 'mutual decision' between the White House and convention organizers that Bush deliver his rescheduled speech from the White House rather than in person.

"She cited Bush's desire to stay in Washington to keep close watch on Gustav's aftermath as well as logistical problems of getting him to St. Paul on short notice. She said in the process, his speech had been shortened from an original 15 minutes to less than eight minutes."

James Gerstenzang blogs for the Los Angeles Times about what a canard that is: "Whenever a president wants to head off on vacation to, say, Martha's Vineyard, Mass., or Crawford, Texas, while geopolitical storms brew, his aides have insisted that he can monitor world crises regardless of his locale. And generally they are correct."

Michael Abramowitz writes in The Washington Post: "Bush's words served to buttress one of the main goals the McCain campaign had set for the second night of the convention: to present the candidate as a leader who takes action and speaks his mind regardless of the political toll. But Bush's presence, even if only on the big screens at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center, also complicated McCain's difficult task of convincing war-weary Americans that his administration would represent a departure from Bush at a time in which many voters say they want change in Washington. . . .

"Bush, along with Vice President Cheney, was scheduled to speak to the convention in person on Monday night but canceled to focus on preparations for Hurricane Gustav, which made landfall Monday on the Gulf Coast. . . .

"McCain aides, while expressing respect for the commander in chief, made clear they did not think Bush's presence would help the candidate. Even [McCain campaign manager Rick] Davis did not offer an effusive endorsement of the president's plan to address the convention. 'I think it's fine,' he said. 'Look, he's the president, he's got a lot of options available to him. I think he did a nice job over the last three or four days in dealing with the hurricane crisis. Our party still uniformly supports him and likes him.'"

David von Drehle writes for Time about how "the GOP showcased an endorsement from Al Gore's 2000 running mate while stuffing their incumbent president into a box. Literally. . . .

"All evening, the elephant in the room was the elephant not in the room. . . .

"Squeezed into the last minutes before prime time began, Bush used his moment -- less than half as long as Lieberman's -- to vouch for McCain as 'ready to lead this nation.' . . .

"The image of a fouled anchor is an official insignia of the U.S. Navy, embossed on jacket buttons and cap badges. As a graduate of the Naval Academy, the son and grandson of admirals, John S. McCain has been contemplating fouled anchors all his life.

"Now he has one dragging on his ambitions, an unpopular president mired in the polls and tangled in a troubled economy. It's nothing personal, but when a sailor -- or politician -- has exhausted all other strategies for hoisting the dead weight, he has no choice but to cut it loose."