NYT: Bush News Conf. Set Amid ("jittery") Campaign Concerns

[DeepModem Mom]

Bush News Conference Set Amid Campaign Concerns
By ADAM NAGOURNEY

Published: April 13, 2004


....Mr. Bush's decision to face the press after a week in which he has largely kept out of view while vacationing in Texas is a sign of what some Republicans described as an increasingly jittery White House. Officials say they are concerned that events beyond their control, from the battlefields of Iraq to a hearing room in Washington, threaten a carefully planned re-election campaign.

Mr. Bush's senior advisers expressed confidence on Monday about his standing, citing polls showing he remains popular and is effectively tied with his likely Democratic opponent, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, even after this difficult passage. "It's been two weeks," said Matthew Dowd, a senior Bush adviser. "If these things were going to have an effect, it would have happened already."

But other Republicans close to the White House expressed concern, noting polls that revealed growing questions among Americans about where the nation is heading, a measure that pollsters historically regard as a barometer of trouble for an incumbent. Of particular note, one Republican close to the White House said, were indications that a spate of Bush television advertisements intended to undercut Mr. Kerry had been partly blunted by the distractions of Iraq and the hearings by the independent commission on Sept. 11....

***

All this takes place at what Republicans call a time of frustration for Mr. Bush and his advisers. In the same month that his general-election campaign began, the very issues that Mr. Bush viewed as the foundation of his appeal — his handling of foreign affairs and the nation's security — are being challenged....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/13/politics/campaign/13POLI.html

[bpilgrim]

1. poor things

ARREST AIR AMERICA and HOWARD STERN :evilgrin:

peace

[oasis]

2. Maybe some of Chimpy's fat cat campaign contributors will start

to think twice before kicking in more cash during the stretch run.

[aquart]

3. They don't seem really prepared to deal with life, do they?

If it ain't on the schedule, they get all flustered.

[radfringe]

4. another article on the prime-time "press-conference"

or rather it may be best to call it an effort to save his campaign....
more jaw-boning tonight...all hat no cattle...

Bush News Conference Set Amid Campaign Concerns
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/13/politics/campaign/13POLI.html
By ADAM NAGOURNEY -- Published: April 13, 2004


WASHINGTON, April 12 — In more than three years in office, President Bush has held precisely two news conferences on prime-time television. On Monday, he said he would hold his third, on at 8:30 Tuesday night in the East Room of the White House.

Mr. Bush's decision to face the press after a week in which he has largely kept out of view while vacationing in Texas is a sign of what some Republicans described as an increasingly jittery White House. Officials say they are concerned that events beyond their control, from the battlefields of Iraq to a hearing room in Washington, threaten a carefully planned re-election campaign.p

--snip--

"It's a significant matter of concern to people who are involved in the campaign and people who are concerned about the political future of the president," a senior Republican close to the Bush campaign said. "It's less of a concern for the policy people. The difficulty is that political people do not like events outside the campaign that are beyond their control."

"We're stuck with the incumbent strategy," this adviser added. "Unless he steps down, it's going to be hard to run as anything but as an incumbent."

The unease in Mr. Bush's circles was one reason, an aide said, that Mr. Bush scheduled a prime-time news conference, a custom he has never liked. The move cheered some Republicans who have followed recent events with some concern.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. That's more from the same article, radfringe -- thanks for posting --

I posted paragraphs from the middle of the article, in order to include the phrase "an increasingly jittery White House."

[murielm99]

6. I hope they're even more jittery when he

makes an ass out of himself on prime time television.

If ehe state of the union and the meet the press interview are any indication, he will make an ass of himself again.

[Hekate]

7. His handlers tend to hand-pick the journalists, though...

...I will never in my life forget that pre-war press conference where this one female reporter (don't know her name, but she was black and relatively young) practically genuflected in his direction when she asked him softly "how his faith guided him" in these dark times. That had to have been a planned set-up question. Dubya gave his trademark smirk (saintly version) and breathily told them all how very much God guides his decisions. I gagged.

Let's hope that not all the reporters there are tame ones with bells on their collars. I believe that he will get rattled if he is peppered with several questions from different directions, questions that are not on his personal script.

And then (please, God, please please please) perhaps the nation will get to witness the long-anticipated Dubya meltdown.

Hekate

[leftchick]

8. Alas, I do not hold out much hope for this event....

There is no way in hell they would let chimpy* out to answer any questions unless they were pre-planted with their pre-chosen media whores. Especially now they way he has been looking and acting. He is really losing it and they can't afford to slip and let the Murikans see it. I am certain this "press conference" will be tightly controlled.

[radfringe]

10. remember his last prime time conference

when he called on a reporter "out of turn" and tried to "cover" it by blurting out that it was "scripted"?

I don't expect that this "press conference" will be any different

[T Bone]

11. Iraq erupts -Chimpy slides down to Crawford- Voila- press conference

They have been pumping him full of canned replies to canned questions for this press conference. Everyone wanted to know why he was suddenly on ANOTHER Crawford holiday. Well, a lot it was probably for the massive preparation he needs for something that would be routine to most presidents, a press conference.

One thing I always hope for in these, and I don't know if anyone else has noticed it is this. There are times he gets off script and it seems he intimates things that have been discussed around him as the 'tone' or 'background' for his scripted remarks. This is when I think he stammers around the most, because at some point he does realize he is mouthing his 'stage directions' rather than his script.
has anyone else ever noted that? Listen to it in that context and his stage direction slips through.

Although I think this one is all about using the bad news out of the 911 commission hearings to stump for Patriot Act III in the guise of 'intelligence reforms'.

Never underestimate their ability as a group to be opportunists for fascism. My guess is they will schedule a package of legislation to hit the hill this fall that Kerry will have to vote against and the vote will be more fodder in the Bush campaign. But in the final two weeks.

[ILeft]

24. Good observation regarding the "stage directions"

I've noticed it, too. He has certain answers that have been drilled into him, and when he gets cocky and tries to modify them he loses control of his memory.

I hope one of the "reporters" takes one for the Country tonight and asks Junior Bush a real question... or anything to put the pressure on. Junior is close to losing it and the sooner he gets it over with the better for all of us.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

29. Yup. When he's bobbling words is when he's lying or over his head.

I read a linguitic analysis of all the times that newspapers were 'correcting' his language in their transcripts for the 'sake of clarity' to their readers.

The analysis showed that W goes into Verbal AWOL when he doesn't know what he's talking about and when he's lying.

So the print media were actually covering up our best LIE DETECTOR!

He will create new stories to displace column inches on his failures:
Biggest 'new' story will be NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR THREATS.

[peekaloo]

15. that's the same "conference" that he admitted was scripted

much to the delight of the fawning lap dogs.

I believe her name was April.......April Fools! :dunce:

George S. (Clinton's traitor) predicted this a.m. that we may see a tag team whooping by the press tonight........please!

[VolcanoJen]

31. That was the most chilling, most creepy Press Conference in US History.

When exactly was it? I'm dying to check back through the DU Archives. I remember how freaked out we all were as we watched the entire "free press" genuflect, as you put so well, Hekate!

[Hekate]

38. Yes it was

Thanks -- y'know it was her whole body posture as she gave him his cue. Bent forward in her chair, half leaning into the aisle, legs in a deep knee bend. Genuflection toward the altar of her god. Brrr.

Hekate

[are_we_united_yet]

9. ".....threaten a carefully planned re-election campaign."

I guess they weren't careful enough.

[dusty64]

12. There is no way this

is anything but another carefully controlled and staged event. I will NOT be able to stomach it but will read all about it here. What amazes me is the effect all the $$$ they spent on ads had, our side better get out their soon will some rebuttals as the public is (sadly) easily brainwashed.

[bleedingheart]

13. I keep hoping he resigns in order to spend more time at home with

his family....but that would leave Cheney to be pres..shudder...

[54anickel]

14. These people are delusional! Seems they are loosing confidence

because the TRUTH is leaking out and challenging their lies. So what's their answer - lie harder?

snip>
Of particular note, one Republican close to the White House said, were indications that a spate of Bush television advertisements intended to undercut Mr. Kerry had been partly blunted by the distractions of Iraq and the hearings by the independent commission on Sept. 11.

snip>
The difficulty is that political people do not like events outside the campaign that are beyond their control."

Truth is outside their control

snip>
"We're stuck with the incumbent strategy," ...

I thought it was normally a good thing to be the incumbent - run on your record, the achievments you've made. Oh yeah, Shrubs one achievment has been one hug cluster-f*ck.

snip>
"There are many things he should say and will be saying over the next few days," said Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 3 Republican in the House. "And I'm glad he's doing that. He should be explaining some of the positive things that are happening in Iraq. I think he should be explaining the level of resistance, and what he intends to do about it."

Oh yeah - more PROGRESS reports. From what I've been reading those will go over really big! People aren't buying into those anymore.

snip>
Some of Mr. Bush's advisers argued that the president's credentials on foreign policy were so superior to Mr. Kerry's that any discussion of Iraq or the Sept. 11 attacks ultimately played to Mr. Bush's benefit.

Credentials? What credentials are those?

snip>
"My own personal view is that paid media in a presidential campaign, especially early, is overrated," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. "People look more to events and real-world happenings to form opinions than they do to paid media. I think it's people sticking their head out the door and saying, `How are things?' And things haven't been good for Bush."

So what are they gonna believe later on? Those lyin' ads or their own eyes?

[diamond14]

16. Washington Post: Nixon Tells Editors, 'I'm Not a Crook', Nov. 18, 1973

sounds so much like bush* recent crap, that it bears looking at this blast-from-the-past....bush* has been running a duplicate of Vietnam, and now, a duplicate of the Watergate hearings...so it does not surprise me that under extreme pressure, bush* now goes for a nixonian press conference...bush* "flying in from his Crawford home", denying his culpability and responsibilities....nixon flew in from his vacation home during major Vietnam KILLING, too...it's the same pogram...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A5...

Nixon Tells Editors, 'I'm Not a Crook'

By Carroll Kilpatrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 18, 1973; Page A01

-snips-

Orlando, Fla, Nov. 17 -- Declaring that "I am not a crook," President Nixon vigorously defended his record in the Watergate case tonight and said he had never profited from his public service.

"I have earned every cent. And in all of my years of public life I have never obstructed justice," Mr. Nixon said. "People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got."

In an hour-long televised question-and-answer session with 400 Associated Press managing editors, Mr. Nixon was tense and sometimes misspoke. But he maintained his innocence in the Watergate case and promised to supply more details on his personal finances and more evidence from tapes and presidential documents.


He flew here tonight from his Key Biscayne, Fla., home for the much-heralded question-and-answer period. He was well prepared, remembering dates and times when he held key meetings with various aides on Watergate matters.

He went on to say he would send to the "editors of the nation's newspapers, all 10,000 of them, the facts. I trust that you will use them . . . but if you feel you need more information, write to me and I will give it to you."

-------------------------

by this time-table (link)...nine months later, nixon resigned...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/watergate/chronology.h...

[kodi]

19. bush needs to be forced to respond..."i am not a liar" then he's toast

.

[VolcanoJen]

32. amen1234... Was that also billed as a "News Conference"?

The article refers to that pivotal moment as a "Question-and-Answer Session," but the similarities between then and now are remarkably clear.

Thank you for posting this reminder!!

[Beetwasher]

17. Too Bad the Chimp is A Defective Product

He will always fail to deliver what's needed. This press conference has to be good or he's fucked. To some degree, he'll be facing a press that has a few people in it now w/ their eyes open...

[diamond14]

18. hahahaha...bush* has never been good at press conferences....

that's the truth....but they'll have these real scripted...all reporters will have their White House generated questions....

then, bush* will have a list of who to call, for their pre-emptive questions, which the shrub is spending all day, with condi, practicing the answers to the known questions...and it will all be written by karen hughes to make the shrub look like a hero....

[Magleetis]

20. The news conference will be

the same old BS we have come to expect from President Bugfucker. They hate us for our freedom, I would have moved mountains, our troops are tough--blah blah blah blah blah. I'm so tired of his bullshit. No need to watch the stooge.

[JPace]

21. They believe so much in their

delusional policies that when it
proves to be wrong it shakes them
to the core. These guys probably
still think there is a Santa Claus.

[riverwalker]

22. the "impromtu" comments from Crawford

were practice for tonight. In which case, sit back and enjoy the show. He's been sounding bizarre in those little bits. Puppetmaster Cheney is far away in Asia.

[Coventina]

23. TIME OF FRUSTRATION?!?!?!

Republicans call this a time of frustration?

HOW ABOUT A TIME OF PAIN AND DEATH YOU MURDERING THUGS!!!!!!!

[Arugula Latte]

25. Yeah

"Events out of their control" -- Hey, Bush admin. assholes, YOU were the ones who decided to slaughter thousands of innocent people who had NEVER attacked us!!!

[jackstraw45]

26. Media Control by White House

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-03-09-media-mix_x.htm

Bush has media walking a fine line

As the potential for war against Iraq grows stronger, the White House press corps faces a delicate challenge: how to balance its obligation to hold President Bush accountable while respecting the challenges he faces at a critical time in history.

(cut)

Nowhere was that more apparent than last week, when Bush called a rare prime-time news conference, which networks and cable outlets covered.

There, Bush made two unprecedented moves that could signal the way he and his administration plan to handle — some say intimidate — the media during wartime.

(cut)

[progressivebydesign]

27. Hand picked reporters. SUBMITTED questions.

NOW we know why he has been glued to Condi for the past 5 days... practice, practice, practice. This is NOT a real conference. He will have pre-submitted questions, and his usual bullshit answers.

[daa]

28. Is it only me

or does this guy look more like a lost deer in the headlights than Quayle did?

[progressivebydesign]

34. Quayle looked like a rocket scientist next to Bush!! N/T

[WillyT]

30. If The Press FINALLY Does It's Job Tonight, Chimp Boy Is Gonna Need...

a diaper tonight.

Insert joke about holding your breath here: <________________________>

OH PLEASE let it happen!!!

:evilgrin:

[progressivebydesign]

33. The Press WON'T do their job tonight.. because...

.. the White House won't let them. If you think, for a second, that the WH will let any reporters (who are not handpicked), ask any questions (that are not presubmitted), you're just not in the loop. This will NOT be a free-wheeling dialogue. This will be the usual crap from the non-responsibilty, photo-op, pre-scripted, anything-to-get-elected crowd. A real yawner.

[WillyT]

36. Gee... Thanks For Cheering Me Up, LOL !!!

Hey, a guy can dream, can't he???

:hi::shrug::hi:

You're gonna watch though, right? Just in case?

[VolcanoJen]

35. If the Press is permitted to do their job tonight, they WILL.

Given the recent content of major editorials and Washington journalism, I have faith... and let's keep an eye on who Chimpy calls upon for his "handful" of questioning tonight...

[Name removed]

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