A Voice Of Muddle, Muzzled
The Economist
Scott McClellan's departure
Apr 20th 2006 WASHINGTON, DC
Making a few improvements with November in mind
ON APRIL 18th, President George Bush's press secretary explained the week's first reshuffle to reporters. “Well, when you have a new chief of staff coming on, the chief of staff, as I talked about yesterday, in the senior staff meeting talked about this is a time to refresh ourselves and re-energise the team,” said Scott McClellan. By his standards, that was quite articulate. The next day, he was gone.
A profile in this month's Vanity Fair described Mr McClellan as “the living symbol of this White House's profound and, perhaps, mortal problem with language and meaning.” His resignation was greeted with relief on the right and crowing on the left. “Not to hit a guy when he's down, but...thank God,” wrote John Podhoretz in The Corner, a blog attached to the conservative National Review. Donna Daugherty, a left-wing songstress, wrote a ditty to mark the occasion, with the chorus: “My name is Scotty, and oh, how I lie!”
The president was kinder, of course. He praised Mr McClellan's “class” and “integrity”, and added: “One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking on chairs in Texas, talking about the good old days.” Sympathetic analysts downplayed the news. Karlyn Bowman of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank, thought the story would have “no impact on public opinion” because few Americans could name Mr Bush's spokesman.
That is true, but a president's spokesman has a role in shaping political debate that does not depend on people knowing his name. His justifications of Mr Bush's policies are posted on the White House website and endlessly dissected online. If he cannot explain complex issues clearly, or parry reporters' thrusts, he does his boss a disservice.
No replacement had been named as The Economist went to press. But many observers think that, regardless of who the new spokesman is, Mr Bush's chief megaphone will be Karl Rove, his long-time adviser. Mr Bush this week gave one of Mr Rove's titles, that of deputy chief of staff in charge of policy, to a new man, Joel Kaplan. This was reportedly to allow Mr Rove to concentrate on helping the Republicans do less badly than predicted in November's elections. “They're certainly going to need him,” says Ms Bowman.
Scott McClellan's departure
Apr 20th 2006 WASHINGTON, DC
Making a few improvements with November in mind
ON APRIL 18th, President George Bush's press secretary explained the week's first reshuffle to reporters. “Well, when you have a new chief of staff coming on, the chief of staff, as I talked about yesterday, in the senior staff meeting talked about this is a time to refresh ourselves and re-energise the team,” said Scott McClellan. By his standards, that was quite articulate. The next day, he was gone.
A profile in this month's Vanity Fair described Mr McClellan as “the living symbol of this White House's profound and, perhaps, mortal problem with language and meaning.” His resignation was greeted with relief on the right and crowing on the left. “Not to hit a guy when he's down, but...thank God,” wrote John Podhoretz in The Corner, a blog attached to the conservative National Review. Donna Daugherty, a left-wing songstress, wrote a ditty to mark the occasion, with the chorus: “My name is Scotty, and oh, how I lie!”
The president was kinder, of course. He praised Mr McClellan's “class” and “integrity”, and added: “One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking on chairs in Texas, talking about the good old days.” Sympathetic analysts downplayed the news. Karlyn Bowman of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank, thought the story would have “no impact on public opinion” because few Americans could name Mr Bush's spokesman.
That is true, but a president's spokesman has a role in shaping political debate that does not depend on people knowing his name. His justifications of Mr Bush's policies are posted on the White House website and endlessly dissected online. If he cannot explain complex issues clearly, or parry reporters' thrusts, he does his boss a disservice.
No replacement had been named as The Economist went to press. But many observers think that, regardless of who the new spokesman is, Mr Bush's chief megaphone will be Karl Rove, his long-time adviser. Mr Bush this week gave one of Mr Rove's titles, that of deputy chief of staff in charge of policy, to a new man, Joel Kaplan. This was reportedly to allow Mr Rove to concentrate on helping the Republicans do less badly than predicted in November's elections. “They're certainly going to need him,” says Ms Bowman.
posted by Unknown | 11:35 AM
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