From last night’s Special Report with Brit Hume:
—On Harry Reid’s Attack on General Pace—
MORT KONDRACKE: Reid is known for over the top outbursts. He once said that Alan Greenspan was one of the biggest hacks ever in Washington. Called President Bush a liar at one point and a loser at another point. And said we lost the war right at the beginning of the [surge]. . . . So what I conclude from all of this is, look, he was in a conversation with, as he described it, five of the most important bloggers in America the other day. And they were clearly beating him up about the fact that the Democrats had not stopped the war.
And he acknowledged that he understood that they were disappointed. And so he
was riffing with them and used the word incompetent. And he never denied that he
said that General Pace was incompetent. . . .
MARA LIASSON: I think what this shows is how important the blogosphere is as now a true
part of the Democratic family of constituencies. I think that they are the engine that really drives the base at this point.
And they are very upset about the fact that Reid and Pelosi made a deal with the president to continue funding of the war, even though Pelosi voted against her own bill. And they are a force that has to be reckoned with. And Harry Reid, more than anyone else, I think has recognized this. He has gone out to their convention in Las Vegas.
—On Bush and the Texans—
HUME: Now the question arises — has arisen in the minds of a number of conservatives in Washington whether the president has been well served to keep this particular circle of people around him as long as he has. I don’t suppose very many people among Republicans would argue that Rove hasn’t done a good job, but what about the others?
KONDRACKE: Well, Fred, in his book, Rebel-in-Chief writes about the disdain that President Bush had for the Washington establishment. He’s now in trouble and who is he going to? Fred Fielding as White House counsel, Washington establishment. Ed Gillespie is not exactly old Washington establishment, is certainly a Washington establishment figure. . . .
And you know, he should have done this a long time ago. The idea of relying only on this tight little group of Texans that he brought up, especially in the communications area, was just a mistake. He did not reach out to talented people who are also loyal to him until very late.