Just got through watching the President on Meet the Press. I thought it was

a pretty dismal performance. I’ll be voting for GWB in November, but let’s

face it, the Great Communicator he ain’t. The tongue-tied blather was

coming thick and fast. At times, he looked like Al Sharpton on the Federal

Reserve.

Russert: “Why didn’t you establish the intelligence commission earlier?”

GWB: “Blather blather blather. No answer.”

Russert: “Will you yourself testify before the commission?”

GWB: “Blather blather blather. No answer.”

Russert: “Why was Saddam Hussein a threat to the US?”

GWB: “He had the capacity to make weapons… a madman…”

Russert: “There is a sense in the country that the intelligence was

ambiguous, that in presenting it to the country, you sexed it up.”

GWB: “He had the capacity to make weapons… a madman…”

This stuff isn’t going to convince anyone, and will probably turn off some

supporters. The best defense of the Iraq war I have yet seen was given by

Alan Keyes on FNC last week. Crisp, clear, and convincing. POTUS should

hire Keyes as a speechwriter, at any salary he asks for.

It got a bit better. National Guard? Stop denigrating it. (Darn right.)

GWB got honorable discharge–what’s to argue with? But then we hit the

economy.

Russert: “Our current fiscal policy is unsustainable, according to the GAO.

Why, as a fiscal conservative, would you allow this deficit disaster?”

GWB: “The budget I have just proposed will cut the deficit… If Congress

is wise with the people’s money…” If Congress is ****W*H*A*T****???? Ha

ha ha ha ha ha ha!

There were all sorts of presentational problems that GWB really should not

be suffering from at this stage in his career. He dropped the acronym

“PDB”; Russert had to interrupt to explain to us peons that it means

“President’s Daily Briefing.” Too reminiscent of Bob Dole in ‘96 mumbling

about “cloture” (which, as P.J. O’Rourke said at the time, most Americans

probably believe to be a surgical procedure).

Russert: “What will be the main issue in this campaign?”

GWB: “Who can most properly use US power…”

To place national security up front like this, on its own, has all sorts of

perils. What if there’s another big terrorist attack in October? I myself

believe that GWB **IS** the right man in a dangerous time, but he’s not

going to convince the unconvinced with feeble performances like this.