Oooh. Bush is launching a p.r. offensive to accompany his BIG speech according to the NY Times:
The White House is planning an aggressive effort to sell Congress and the American public on President Bush's new strategy for Iraq, beginning with a prime-time address to the nation Wednesday night, a trip by the president to Fort Benning, Ga., to visit with troops on Thursday and appearances on Capitol Hill by the secretaries of state and defense.Okay, it's simply amazing that Ms. Stohlberg or any other reporter treats this like news. It is the standard operating procedure for the White House. They can plan a public relations blitz, they just can't plan a war. And, those p.r. campaigns don't really work either. This is the fourth , yes fourth, major spin effort by George Bush. He's selling the same old thing -- and it didn't work the other three times. This is what the Associated Press reported back in August 2006:
With Democrats vowing to oppose any plan to send more troops to Iraq, and some Republicans openly skeptical, aides to the president are planning an intense rollout that will include briefings by senior administration officials for reporters and lawmakers, and possible trips to the region by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, both of whom are scheduled to testify before Congress after Mr. Bush's speech. Despite Mr. Bush's insistence that he does not govern by polls, the White House is acutely aware that the vast majority of the American public disapproves of the job Mr. Bush is doing in Iraq.
It is the third time in less than a year that Bush has launched a public relations offensive to try to rally support for the war in Iraq and his effort to spread democracy in the Middle East. He did it in November and December 2005 and again in March on the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Back then, the speeches were aimed at countering news reports of daily bombings in Iraq, where more than 2,300 U.S. troops had died. The death toll has risen to more than 2,630 and in July, about 3,500 Iraqis died violently - the highest monthly civilian toll since the war began.
The new addresses come two months before congressional elections and at a point when Bush's approval rate is at 33 percent in the August AP-Ipsos poll. His approval on handling of Iraq also was at 33 percent in the poll.
