Time for more changes in the West Wing
President Bush might consider looking for a new adviser at home
The Oh Really Factor
Maurice O. Ndole |
WHITE HOUSE CHIEF of staff Andrew Card’s resignation comes at a time when Republicans alarm at the president’s low job approval rating is at its peek.
Card, famous for whispering in the president’s ear at a Florida elementary school that America was under attack on Sept. 11, 2001, resigned Tuesday. He remarked that this was a different season.
Card is right, when he became chief of staff five years ago; the administration enjoyed a season of glee. They had plenty of support from the public and answered very few questions from the press regarding its handling of the War of Terror.
But the administration’s troubles in this a new season would overwhelm even Superman. The so-called capital the president gained after winning the last election is spent and everybody wants answers the administration is not prepared to give.
The president’s job approval rating stands at 37 percent, the administration is rigged with scandals such as outing of a CIA operative and allegations of corruption, the war in Iraq is not going according to plan, victims of Hurricane Katrina are still waiting to be resettled, and there is an immigration crisis.
Card’s exit, however, does not solve the administration’s problems and may not help the president’s job approval rating. There are many issues that go well beyond Card; the crisis of the war in Iraq for example is perceived as a problem closely related to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who despite many goofs such as the Abu Ghraib scandal is still an insider of the Bush administration.
It’s time for the president to look for other ways to promote his agenda if he is to accomplish anything significant in his second term. The first step would be to ensure he gets his message across to Americans using people in his administration the people can trust such his wife First Lady Laura Bush.
It’s unrealistic to think the First Lady would be able to deliver the president from all the political mess he has found himself in because she is not Karl Rove, but with an 80 percent approval rating she is definitely an asset.
The president should consider having the First Lady speak more about the issues affecting the nation such as the problems Hurricane Katrina victims are facing, because she comes across as more believable than most of those FEMA guys.
By giving the First Lady such a role, the president would gain several obvious advantages such as the benefit of honest and loyal advice about the truth on the ground. He wouldn’t have to worry about her sugarcoating the advice for fear of retaliation. And she doesn’t have to kiss up to him because she is not looking for a job or a promotion.
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