[White House]

Bush on the Today Show

George and Laura appeared on the Today Show yesterday morning, and the reviews are not good. Dana Millbank:

When Lauer asked if Bush, after a slow response to Katrina, was "trying to get a second chance to make a good first impression," Bush blinked 24 times in his answer. When asked why Gulf Coast residents would have to pay back funds but Iraqis would not, Bush blinked 23 times and hitched his trousers up by the belt.When the questioning turned to Miers, Bush blinked 37 times in a single answer -- along with a lick of the lips, three weight shifts and some serious foot jiggling.

Dan Froomkin:

It was such a lovely photo op -- President Bush and his wife joining the volunteers building a house in Louisiana. The perfect backdrop for an upbeat interview, live on NBC's Today Show.

But then Matt Lauer had to go and pull back the curtain and ask: Isn't this all just an empty photo op?

Ouch. Bush has depended, not only for his entire Presidency, not only for his entire political career, but his entire life, on the deference of strangers. That the press has been docile to him is a gross understatement--and his post 9/11 power to demand that they remain docile was probably unprecedented in US history. The jig is up, and Bush doesn't know what to do with actual criticism. He's never heard it before, and he's never been accountable for his actions. So he reverts to the usual comments he's made his whole life, not recognizing that the context has changed. Thanks to Bush's incompetence, thousands are now homeless in New Orleans and hundreds are dead. Bush's response?

I do my job as best I can. One of the things that we do is we respond to crisis. And as I told the people, if I didn't respond well enough, we're going to learn the lessons. If there's any mistakes made at the federal level, I, of course, accept responsibility for them.

Of course, he's been told he must voice the words of accountability, so he mouths the words. All his life, he's mouthed the words. In the past, that was adequate. It's revealing that he did the interview with Laura, who may have been chosen to soften Bush's image for the morning crowd, but who actually appeared to be doing damage control. On the issue of Harriet Miers, Bush's credibility is pretty well shot, but Laura could be expected to reliably make the case. And she did, saving Bush from further discomfort in arguing that she's the best choice in the land. As Lauer pressed him on that point--he was stammering that she was "an extraordinary woman" --Laura dove in and gave a believable rave of her friend.

Bush is spending more and more time in the public trying to defend his presidency and the policies he was chosen to sell to the people. At some point, his handlers are going to have to rethink that plan. Unless, I guess, they send Laura along every time.