On January 22, 2003--fifteen weeks before announcing the end of major combat operations in Iraq in front of a "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" banner--President Bush gave a speech on his economic stimulus plan in a Saint Louis warehouse. Behind him was backdrop that read "STRENGTHENING AMERICA'S ECONOMY" over a background of cardboard boxes marked "MADE IN U.S.A."
As it turns out, there was a problem with this backdrop. It was later discovered that the boxes behind the backdrop and to either side of the backdrop were, in fact, made in China. Those boxes that were not obscured by the backdrop had pieces of paper affixed to obscure the "Made in China" labels. The White House later blamed these pieces of paper on an "overzealous advance volunteer."
The "MADE IN U.S.A." backdrop is probably the most ironic made-to-order background in front of which our President has spoken, but it certainly isn't the only one. My method certainly isn't scientific, but it seems to me that these backdrops have actually become more common in the last month or so, even with the election already behind us.
On December 16 a White House economic conference took place in front of a backdrop that said "SECURING OUR ECONOMIC FUTURE."
Incidentally, I believe that this was the conference at which Bush declared "Justice ought to be fair." President Bush later gave concluding remarks at the same conference with a similar backdrop:
Discussing medical liability reform on January 5, Bush stood in front of this backdrop:
Below the word "AFFORDABLE" is the word "HEALTHCARE," though it's hard to read because the doctors are standing up. I took most of these pictures (including this one) from videos on whitehouse.org, and the video zoomed in on Bush before the doctors sat down, so I wasn't able to get a better shot.
Two days later, the President participated in a discussion on asbestos litigation at Macomb Community College in Michigan. Behind him was a backdrop that read "ENDING LAWSUIT ABUSE":
On January 11, the President participated in another "conversation." This one was about privatizing Social Security and took place in front of a "STRENGTHENING SOCIAL SECURITY" backdrop:
The following day, George W. Bush spoke at J.E.B Stuart High School in Falls Church, Virginia about education. This time, he had a backdrop that said "STRENGTHENING OUR SCHOOLS."
Last Friday (January 14), President Bush participated in a "conversation" in Jacksonville, Florida about job training and higher education. Here he is being introduced by his brother Jeb, in front of a patriotic-looking backdrop that read "Strengthening America's Economy":
Each of the slogans is expressed in such a way that few people would disagree with the goal expressed. We might disagree about what constitutes "lawsuit abuse" or how to go about ending it, but we agree that abuse in general is a bad thing. Likewise, we might disagree about how to make our economy stronger but a strong economy doesn't sound like a bad idea. The same goes for each of the other slogans presented on these backdrops.
The immediate function of the backdrops is to turn each event--whether it's a so-called conversation (with people who agree with the President, of course) or a speech--into a photo op. Without the backdrop, a photo says very little, but the backdrop changes things. People who see one or more of these pictures but do not have the patience or the means to read the associated newspaper article or who see a short video clip on television are likely to be left--perhaps not consciously--with the impression that Bush is strengthening social security, schools, and our economy, securing our economic future, providing affordable healthcare and ending lawsuit abuse. They may not find out that his plan for social security is privatization which has nothing to do with the supposed crisis at hand, that the President's plan for providing affordable healthcare is based on ending frivolous lawsuits which account for only about one percent of healthcare costs, that Bush didn't keep many of the educational promises he made in his first term, or that when Bush talks about strengthening the economy, he means cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans.
It seems surprising, though, that these backdrops should become more common after the election. A likely explanation for this is that Bush is pushing forward quite a few policies that aren't so popular. His Social Security plan is one such example. I don't think it's a coincidence that he's pushing these after the election instead of before it. Still, anything that can be done to keep the public ignorant to the details of such plans should help his popularity. Trying to be popular in a second term isn't about reelection (though generally a President would hope not to lose the next election for his party), it's about building a legacy. President Bush is getting started on that now, and it appears that his material of choice is cardboard or Foam Core or whatever it is that these backdrops are on.