Editor & Publisher reports that for the first time in his presidency, George Bush is holding private meetings with selected reporters, with at least one at his private residence--on the condition that those meetings be off the record. Journalists that received a Presidential invite to schmooze include those from
The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, The L.A. Times, and more:
NEW YORK In an apparent effort to mend his relationship with the press, President George Bush has been holding off-the-record meetings with White House reporters for the past few days, an apparent first since he took office.
Several correspondents confirmed to E&P either participating in such meetings or being invited to them, noting that at least two have been held in the past week, with one scheduled for Tuesday. Most have lasted more than an hour and at least one took place in Bush's private residence.
A reporter cited in the article says President Clinton also conducted such private sessions with reporters late in his term. Still, another source describes the meetings as "a little surreal....He wants to chew the fat...He asked about our backgrounds, our families. He wanted to be informal, but it couldn't be, because of who he is."
Who he is, of course, is a President with record-low approval ratings and a scandal-ridden Republican Congress. He is a President who breaks the law like Nixon and and who manages his wars like Vietnam. He is a President who, for the first time, is facing a press that dares to report the truth of his failed Presidency. So naturally, he has embarked on a schmoozing crusade to salvage a legacy which cannot be salvaged. Too much of a coward to face the press from behind the podium, he's taken to meeting with them behind closed doors, away from the cameras, where he can spin and spin to his heart's content. He meets with them not because he thinks they represent the people, but because he sees them as conduits for his propaganda. One thing seems clear: this latest move is the move of a desperate and weak President, and no amount of secret media meetings will change the reality of his failed Presidency.