Froomkin outlined the WH strategy yesterday:
But now there's a new plan.That WH strategy requires the American people to forget everything that happened over the past few weeks. It would also require the MSM to become Karl Rove's lap dogs again. Both are quite possible.
The first stage of the White House's strategy: Stop defending the indefensible.
So Bush yesterday, in an almost unprecedented move, took responsibility for the problematic response to Katrina -- at least "to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right."
That strained, vague, partial acknowledgement -- wedged into a brief appearance with the visiting Iraqi president -- was nevertheless enough to garner the White House "Bush Takes Blame" headlines everywhere this morning.
And that, the White House hopes, will be enough to start putting the controversy behind him.
Then it's on to the next stage: Trying to shift the nation's attention away from the past and toward a future in which Bush looks more like he did after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. That means reclaiming his mantle as a leader, championing the heroism of rescue workers, celebrating the compassion of the American people, and taking advantage of new opportunities to pursue conservative ideological goals.
The Bush team does know how to run political campaigns. Unfortunately for all of us, they don't know how to run a government. That's deadly.
