The Washington Post does a profile on your President, the man who has your life in his hands:
As he takes to the road to salvage his presidency, Bush is letting down his guard and playing up his anti-intellectual, regular-guy image. Where he spent last year in rehearsed forums with select supporters, these days he is more frequently throwing aside the script and opening himself to questions from audiences that are not prescreened. These sessions have put a sometimes playful, sometimes awkward side back on display after years of trying to keep it under control to appear more presidential.That whole "average Joe" thing worked on the campaign trail, but Bush is the President and we're in trouble. The traditional media loves this whole Bush as funny man schtick. They eat it up.
Call it the let-Bush-be-Bush strategy. The result is a looser president, less serious at times, even at times when humor might seem out of place. Aides used to dread such settings, worried about gaffes or the way Bush might come across in spontaneous exchanges. But with his poll numbers somewhere south of the border, they concluded that Bush handles back-and-forth better than he once did -- and that they have little left to lose.
"It shows the range of his personality, the humor," said White House counselor Dan Bartlett. He said the White House has worked to put Bush out in public more, noting that he has had news conferences twice as often in his second term as in his first. "In a couple different ways, we've expanded his exposure," Bartlett said.
Americans want a smart, strong leader. We don't have one. Bush has screwed up both domestic and foreign policy. That's why his approval ratings are tanking. We're not safer and having a funny guy as President doesn't help anyone. But that's apparently the new White House strategy. Be afraid.
