more on the press conference

[khedron]

I came across this link while reading the Slacktivist guy describing Clinton's 9/11 commission testimony. Admittedly this is from the "style" column of the Washington Post, but it's still the Washington Post.

Excerpts from Tom Shales in the Washington Post:

Although the short speech was well-written, especially toward the end, Bush looked upon it as an address in which all sentences were created equal. He never stressed any particular point or added any emphasis. He might as well have been reading letters off an eye chart.

On NBC, reporter David Gregory, who'd been among those asking Bush questions in the East Room of the White House, said the president was "filibustering at times" with his meandering responses. Indeed, most of the questions seemed to go unanswered. A reporter asked, twice, why Bush and Vice President Cheney insisted on appearing together when they testify before the 9/11 commission. Bush ignored the question both times, uttering familiar generalities instead.

[...]

And yet people responding to polls today will probably give Bush points for just showing up. By having so few televised news conferences, he's made the ones he does have into big events. By expressing tremendous confidence in his own judgment and actions, even to the point of not being able to recall a single mistake, it's likely Bush made Americans feel a renewed confidence as well.