AFP
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Some critics and supporters of US President George W. Bush agree on an intriguing explanation for his poor showing in his first debate with Democratic rival John Kerry: Blame it on the White House "bubble."
The term refers to the protective layers of aides, spokespeople, Secret Service security and supporters that encase the modern US president, keeping reporters, hecklers and threats away from the chief executive.
Even allowing for heightened protection around him in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Bush has taken unusual pains to insulate himself from hard questions from those who disagree with him.
He has held fewer press conferences than any modern president -- including his father, former president George Bush (news - web sites) -- and aides who disagreed publicly with him have generally recanted swiftly and humbly or left the administration.
At least one senior campaign adviser, speaking two days before the first Bush-Kerry debate, seemed to suggest that Bush's considerable debating skills might be rusty from lack of use since taking office in January 2001.
"Presidents tend to listen and make decisions; they don't engage in debates with their opponents or really with anyone else. They listen and make decisions," Karen Hughes told Fox News Channel on September 28.
Many media analysts, including some who scored the first debate as a draw, noted that the camera caught the president frequently looking bored, annoyed, unsettled or distracted during Kerry's attacks on his leadership.
"Bush has been living in a bubble for too long," Richard Reeves, who proclaimed Kerry the winner last week, wrote in the Charleston Gazette.
"What's wrong with him? I would say he has a bad case of Ovalitis - an ear infection endemic to the Oval Office. Sit there long enough, and you don't hear anything you don't want to hear," according to Reeves.
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OH, it's the Bubble, that explains it.
He's a Bubble Boy...
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Some critics and supporters of US President George W. Bush agree on an intriguing explanation for his poor showing in his first debate with Democratic rival John Kerry: Blame it on the White House "bubble."
The term refers to the protective layers of aides, spokespeople, Secret Service security and supporters that encase the modern US president, keeping reporters, hecklers and threats away from the chief executive.
Even allowing for heightened protection around him in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Bush has taken unusual pains to insulate himself from hard questions from those who disagree with him.
He has held fewer press conferences than any modern president -- including his father, former president George Bush (news - web sites) -- and aides who disagreed publicly with him have generally recanted swiftly and humbly or left the administration.
At least one senior campaign adviser, speaking two days before the first Bush-Kerry debate, seemed to suggest that Bush's considerable debating skills might be rusty from lack of use since taking office in January 2001.
"Presidents tend to listen and make decisions; they don't engage in debates with their opponents or really with anyone else. They listen and make decisions," Karen Hughes told Fox News Channel on September 28.
Many media analysts, including some who scored the first debate as a draw, noted that the camera caught the president frequently looking bored, annoyed, unsettled or distracted during Kerry's attacks on his leadership.
"Bush has been living in a bubble for too long," Richard Reeves, who proclaimed Kerry the winner last week, wrote in the Charleston Gazette.
"What's wrong with him? I would say he has a bad case of Ovalitis - an ear infection endemic to the Oval Office. Sit there long enough, and you don't hear anything you don't want to hear," according to Reeves.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OH, it's the Bubble, that explains it.
He's a Bubble Boy...
