Posted on 04/24/2006 6:55:18 AM PDT by gopwinsin04
Doctors Give Tony Snow The Go-Ahead
The final part of Josh Bolten's five-point White House "recovery plan" involves courting the press, the latest issue of Time Magazine says.
"...He believes the White House can work more astutely with journalists to make its case to the public, and he recognizes that the President has paid a price for the inclination of some on his staff to treat them dismissively or high-handedly. His first move, working with counselor Dan Bartlett, was to offer the press secretary job to Tony Snow." Mike Allen reports that Snow's "doctors have approved the possibility of his taking the grueling post..."
"Tony Snow Will Only Be Effective If..." At the top of CNN's Reliable Sources this morning, Howard Kurtz asked David Gergen about the prospect of Tony Snow as White House press secretary:
"Tony is very good," Gergen said. "And he does have -- he certainly has paid some dues in journalism, I'm not sure he would call himself a full-time journalist, but he's worked hard over at Fox News to develop himself and I think he ought to be given credit for that. He also, of course, had the relationship with the Bush family. So he does seem to me, in many ways, a very good possibility for that."
But Gergen said "the real question is whether the president wants to change the way information is given to the press. It's all up to the president
(Excerpt) Read more at mediabistro.com ...
Take it Tony!
Bolten is extremely guarded around reporters, but he knows them and, unlike some of his colleagues, is not scared of them.
Administration officials said he believes the White House can work more astutely with journalists to make its case to the public, and he recognizes that the President has paid a price for the inclination of some on his staff to treat them dismissively or high-handedly.
His first move, working with counselor Dan Bartlett, was to offer the press secretary job to Tony Snow of Fox News radio and television, a former newspaper editorial writer and onetime host of Fox News Sunday who served George H.W. Bush as speechwriting director.
Snow, a father of three and a sax player, is the bona fide outsider that Republican allies have long prescribed for Bushworld and would bring irreverence to a place that hasn't seen a lot of fun lately. "White Houses are weird places," he told a 2004 panel on White House speechwriting.
Snow had his colon removed after he was found to have cancer last year, but his doctors have approved the possibility of his taking the grueling post.
It doesn't sound as if Gergen was in the running for the job.
What a pompous, self-important ass.
The stress could kill any healthy man. Tony has health problems that require less stress, not more. This, coupled with the fact he would be paid far less money would cause most men to turn down the offer. Tony is NOT most men!
Tony will run circles around the press core!
Those who think that Tony Snow as Press Secretary would be the same as the "straight talking" Tony Snow many of us grew to respect as a talk show host will be bitterly disappointed. A lot more "diplomacy" is required as Press Secretary.
WOOF
Personally I think Tony is a very good man, but the President's poll numbers are the result his stances on several issues that the conservative base is really upset about, namely illegal immigration.
No amount of lipstick is going to dress up that pig.
I think anyone with half a brain realizes the job requires diplomacy- but it also requires someone who won't get fuddled when asked stupid lying questions and who has great "stage presence". He would handle the press very well and the public will like him which will be a big plus for the administration.
Looks like you're in the news again...
GOOD!
Justice Stevens or Ginsberg could keel over anyday, I'd rather not have Ted Kennedy appointing 2 SCOTUS judges
"Justice Stevens or Ginsberg could keel over anyday, I'd rather not have Ted Kennedy appointing 2 SCOTUS judges"
I hear ya!
Perception and also truth count. It sure doesn't help when the press sec can't straighten out a lying journo or defend the President's position. The poll numbers are more about the perception the general public has about things in general rather than the opinion of the base about specific policy.
When the President is being battered daily with lies about everything from secret prisons to WMD to leaks and wiretaps, it's the press sec's job to field questions and make the statements to put rumors to bed and give the public the truth.
>>For the same reasons I was against (even aghast) at George Snuffleupagus taking on the This Week Show, I think that Tony should not be a political spokesman for President Bush.<<
Yes, well if its gonna happen let's hope it is limited to honorable honest ones like Tony Snow.
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