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He went where?!! Too Good to Be TrueBy Rick Horowitz
CRAWFORD, TEX., Any Minute Now -- Was it an olive branch? Or a banana peel? That was the question of the moment as President Bush wrapped up a less-than-restful month-long vacation at his nearby ranch and prepared to return to the nation's capital. The reason for all the speculation: the president's Monday trip to Arizona and California to talk to seniors about Social Security and Medicare, and more specifically, his choice of the Arizona destination in which to make his case. El Mirage. "Who's the genius that decided this was a good idea?" asked one frustrated Republican strategist, speaking anonymously so as not to be seen as criticizing the White House. "He isn't taking enough hits already about being out of touch with reality?" For its part, the White House insisted that Mr. Bush's itinerary had been carefully vetted, including the stop at the recreation center in the community of El Mirage. "The president had an excellent visit to both locations," press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters here today, referring also to Mr. Bush's visit to a senior center in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. "He had the chance to remind America's seniors just how beneficial his Medicare and Social Security proposals will be for them, and for their loved ones." As for the name "El Mirage," with its shimmering suggestions of too-good-to-be-true? Mr. McClellan professed to be unruffled. There was even a tantalizing hint that, in setting up Mr. Bush's travel schedule, the name of the community had been a point in its favor. "Maybe this will even get it out of their system," Mr. McClellan suggested, referring to news-hungry journalists here and across the nation. "They get a free shot, an easy one, and then they can go back to reporting on the people's business." Still, Mr. McClellan conceded, "The media is going to say what the media is going to say." And the early signs were not promising. In fact, what some in the media seemed most interested in saying was, "Do you have any in Extra Large?" That's because of the sudden appearance at the reporters' encampment here of commemorative t-shirts reading "Mirage-to-Cucamonga: The Bush Summer Tour." The first shipment sold out in less than 15 minutes. Famous for its iron-fisted control of every news cycle, the White House was being seen in some quarters as having committed a serious public-relations misstep. At a time when critics in both parties have faulted the president for overly optimistic accounts of the war in Iraq, said observers, a trip to a place called El Mirage -- even to talk about domestic issues -- was only going to make Mr. Bush a more inviting target. "This never would have happened if Karl Rove were still alive," cracked one senior Democrat, implying that the president's top strategist, while still very much among the living, might well have been distracted by continuing investigations into his role in revealing the identity of former CIA undercover agent Valerie Plame. From a Republican aide on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, there were concerns that the lengthy vacation, and the more leisurely pace of Crawford, had left the president and his staff less nimble than they needed to be for the Washington battles to come. "If there ever was a second-term honeymoon, it's over," said the aide, who asked to remain unidentified so as not to jeopardize future dealings with the White House. "Everyone up here is already looking to '06, and they're much less willing to cut him any slack." This aide was, however, willing to offer the president one piece of entirely unsolicited advice. "If he goes to Death Valley to talk about prescription drugs, he's on his own." Posted 8/30/05. Get
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Rick Horowitz
