Lou Dobbs, via Dan Froomkin. Don't miss McClellan's sniffy little bit at the end:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/12/01/BL2005120100736_pf.html On CNN last night, Lou Dobbs and Dana Bash talked about the Bush bubble.
"DOBBS: President Bush once again today defended the war in Iraq in front of an audience comprised entirely of military personnel. The president appears to be avoiding any contact with average American, increasingly questioning his policies. Critics say the Bush presidency is becoming an isolated presidency."
Bash showed clips of recent Bush speeches at the Naval Academy, Elmendorf Air Base in Alaska and San Diego's naval air station.
"BASH: Lyndon Johnson tried military settings to boost morale for his unpopular war, even traveled to South Vietnam. But some historians say Mr. Bush breaks with presidential tradition by being so openly political with an audience of troops.
"ROBERT DALLEK, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Franklin Roosevelt during World War II, Harry Truman during Korea. They didn't go to military bases to contest what opponents were saying. They would make the argument in a political forum or in a speech before Congress, or in a State of the Union message.
"BASH: To Bush critics it is crass.
"SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The troops don't belong to his point of view. They belong to America and to Americans. They are Americans.
"BASH: The White House defends the events as wartime obligation, not opportunistic.
"NICOLLE WALLACE, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS: There is nobody in this country with more at stake, and a deeper commitment, and a deeper impact on their lives.
"BASH: It is impressive stage craft, some call it preaching to the converted and question whether Bush aides choose these backdrops to avoid confronting skeptical, everyday Americans.
"DALLEK: In the end, it doesn't help him very well, and in fact, I think it does him a disservice.
"BASH: What is not in dispute is that for the embattled president, this is his comfort zone."
In his mid-day briefing yesterday, Press Secretary Scott McClellan was asked about Bush's use of troops as props.
McClellan's response: "The President talks to the American people in a lot of different settings. I guess maybe there's some level of frustration by some people, some of the critics, at the fact that our military fully understands the stakes that are involved, and they understand the importance of succeeding and completing the mission, and winning the war on terrorism."
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