 | Team 41 is a Threat to the Bush Legacy | |
| The Accomplishments of George W. Bush | |
| Declare Victory and Get Out of the Way | |
| Leaders Missing in Iraq War |
| Rising Wage Gap, But No Squeeze | |
| Health Care, Not Social Security, the Third Rail of 2008 | |
| Will Democrats Keep the Faith? | |
| Turning Toward Iran | |
| Can Republicans Count on a House Snapback? |
March 22, 2006
Bush's Sun Tzu 'Strategery'
By Tom BevanIn The Art of War, the great Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu advised, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." President Bush seemed to have just that sort of "strategery" in mind as he stepped out yesterday for his second press conference of the year.
Bush seemed energized and very much in control as he jousted playfully but assertively with the reporters in the room, including veteran White House journalist Helen Thomas. Bush defended his position on Iraq passionately while acknowledging the concerns and uncertainty the war has created among the public. By the time it was over you could almost hear GOP Congressional heavyweights in Washington turning to each other and wondering aloud, "now where's that guy been all this time?"
Indeed, some of the Bush administration's biggest mistakes in the past eighteen months have been more about communication and public relations than about policy. From Katrina to the Dubai ports deal, the administration has done a poor job of communicating properly in response to events but also in advance of them.
The sin of not being on top of your communications game cannot be overstated. In today's era of electronic mass media, first impressions form quickly and they're almost impossible to undo. Bush standing atop the rubble of the World Trade Center with a bullhorn is one of the enduring images of our time, and more than any other it has shaped the public's perception of Bush as a tough yet compassionate wartime president.
But the images and perceptions created by Hurricane Katrina endure as well, even though Bush has now traveled to the region more than a dozen times since last September to show he remains attentive and engaged. Irrespective of the logistic and bureaucratic problems that hampered the initial recovery effort, imagine how different the public's perception of the president would be had Bush been on the ground in Louisiana a day or two after Katrina with his sleeves rolled up talking to Americans about the recovery rather than flying over New Orleans in Air Force One on his way back to Washington.
Nowhere has the administration dropped the communications ball worse than on Iraq. The White House essentially went dark on the issue of Iraq for the first nine months of last year, preferring instead to focus attention on Bush's drive to reform Social Security. That decision may be understandable, but it was a mistake nonetheless - and one that should have been recognized much sooner. Every day that Bush was out selling entitlement reform the carnage and chaos from Iraq was being pumped into living rooms across the country, slowly eroding the public's confidence that this administration has a plan for victory - or even a plan at all.
The White House did have the benefit of reaching two successful milestones in Iraq at the end of last year to help bolster positive opinion: the constitutional referendum in October and the elections in December. The impending formation of a unity government in Iraq will probably provide a little boost this year, but beyond that the administration has nothing to point to on the horizon as a milestone of success, which makes their ability to communicate progress in Iraq that much more difficult, but also that much more important.
It's clear this administration is at its best when it is in full campaign mode: focused, disciplined, and nimble. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign was one of the best executed in history; a masterpiece of "strategery" both on the ground and over the airways. It's exhausting to try and maintain that level of intensity and focus all the time, but that is exactly what's required of an administration prosecuting a war overseas in today's media environment.
And so President Bush must continue to do what he did yesterday; stand up before a generally hostile press corps, take their questions, and aggressively defend his policy in Iraq. For the next three years he must continue to campaign day in and day out to try and convince the American people that we are succeeding in Iraq and that the benefits of success are worth continued sacrifice.
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