The transformation of Laura Bush from demure, soft-spoken, former librarian and school teacher into an activist, full-time partisan politician is something Rove didn't find so necessary in 2000.
Atrios tipped me off that the Chicago Tribune has an interesting piece up that's very telling about where the Bush campaign is today ... and where it's going this Spring. One item that I think the press owes us on is the rotation of Laura Bush from the back bench to the first string.
The article is available via Yahoo news without a subscription here.
"I find [Laura] to be the perfect wife of a governor," George W. Bush told the Dallas Morning News in 1995, at the height of Hillary Clinton's notoriety. "Instead of trying to butt in and always, you know, compete. There's nothing worse in the political arena than spouses competing for public accolades or the limelight."
But as she and her husband gear up for what she calls their last political campaign, Laura Bush is becoming increasingly visible--including a scheduled appearance in Chicago on Tuesday to talk about heart disease among women. And she's talking about a personal agenda that has grown more sophisticated than many would have expected from her early days in the White House.
Sitting back on a couch in her East Wing office last week, Laura Bush folded her arms in front of her, and, with a stare as penetrating as any delivered by her husband, said she wanted to be clear about "that issue:" Where Laura Bush falls between "stays home baking cookies" and "writes health-care policy."
"This is what I think about that issue," she said in an interview with the Tribune. "People want to--maybe the press more than Americans--want to put the first lady in a box. You either are or you aren't something, and that's just not the case.
"The people that have lived here are a lot more complicated than that," she said. "If you look at the whole spectrum, I'm certainly interested in a lot of policy, education policy particularly, health policy. At the same time, I don't bake cookies; I never really baked cookies."
Note the complete and total flip-flop from George about the role of spouses during a campaign. According to Governor Bush, "there's nothing worse."
Why does President Bush hate 'Merika???
Further, I believe the message is crystal clear. She's being trotted out this week to work on the "compassionate" side of Bush's record on women's issues.
As if one existed....
Now, don't get me wrong, it does't bother me one bit that a first lady has an affect on policy. Laura long ago came forward with her support fot the NEA and, as a result, things are working out differently in this Bush administration than it did during Bush I or Reagan's time. In fact, NEA funding for 2005 is reported to increase for 2005.
What does bother me is that republicans are somehow blameless when they do exactly what they accuse the opposition of doing. Whether its on education or health policy--or the NEA--Laura is there. Loud and clear. Just like Carl Rove, just like Dick Cheney, just like Gillespie and the others.
Now that Laura has announced that she refuses to bake cookies, WHERE IS THE PRESS OUTRAGE???????
I guess I'm expecting too much from our national media.... Sigh.