Power Line calls Bush’s performance at his press conference yesterday “bravura,” and reproduces his exchange about
Because we now have access to the transcripts of press conferences at the same time the MSM gives us their “reports” of what was said, we can compare (or more likely contrast) the two in real time. Here’s a little case study from yesterday:
Bush was asked about election issues, the impact of
THE PRESIDENT: Right, I’ve listened to them very carefully. I’m a thoughtful guy, I listen to people. (Laughter) I’m open-minded. I’m all the things that you know I am.
. . . Look . . . elections are won based upon economic issues and national security issues. And there’s a fundamental difference between many of the Democrats and my party, and that is, they want to leave before the job is completed in
Iraq. And again, I repeat, these are decent people. They’re just as American as I am. I just happen to strongly disagree with them. And it’s very important for the American people to understand the consequences of leaving Iraq before the job is done. . . . In the short-term, we’ve got to have the tools necessary to stop terrorist attack. That means good intel, good intelligence-sharing, the capacity to know whether al Qaeda is calling into this country and why. We’ve got to have all those tools — the Patriot Act, tearing down those walls between intel and law enforcement are a necessary part of protecting the country. But in the long-term, the only way to defeat this terrorist bunch is through the spread of liberty and freedom. . . .
I believe it’s a challenge of this — the challenge for this generation. . . .
At home, if I were a candidate, if I were running, I’d say, look at what the economy has done. It’s strong. We created a lot of jobs — let me finish my question, please. . . . I’m kind of getting old, and just getting into my peroration. (Laughter) Look it up. (Laughter)
I’d be telling people that the Democrats will raise your taxes. That’s what they said. I’d be reminding people that tax cuts have worked in terms of stimulating the economy. . . .
That’s what I’d be running on. I’d be running on the economy, and I’d be running on national security.
When you read the New York Times account of the press conference, you get the feeling that there’s a particular point that the Times is trying to drive home. Here are some excerpts from the New York Times “news” coverage of Bush’s remarks:
[Bush’s] appearance comes as Mr. Bush and his party face the most daunting electoral challenge of his presidency, with continued voter dissatisfaction over the course of the Iraq war . . .
Democrats have pointed to polls showing public support for the war is continuing to wane . . .
Analysts from both parties have described the war as the biggest political liability facing the Republicans this year. . . .
The dissatisfaction over the war now extends even to Republican officeholders . . . .
[P]olls now show that a majority of American now have doubts about progress in
Iraq. . . . Strategists on both sides have pointed to
Iraq as a major drag on the president’s popularity, which in turn has been a drag on the Republican Party. . . . As for flagging support for the war in
Iraq, Mr. Bush said . . .
At one point in the press conference, Bush said that “there are a lot of people in the Democrat Party who believe that the best course of action is to leave
The Times quotes that statement and then “reports” that:
In calling the opposition the “Democrat Party” Mr. Bush was repeating a truncated, ungrammatical version of the party’s name that some Democrats have called a slight, an assertion the White House dismissed as ridiculous.”
Faced with a presidential assertion that a lot of Democrats in the Democrat Party are wrong about leaving