WH Pool Report: Hitting Their Marks Edition
In this White House pool report, we get a peek behind the curtain:
Is this still the party of Ronald Reagan? Then how come party stalwarts like John Ashcroft, John Snow and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Ut., can't hit their mark? They stumbled into the Roosevelt Room a couple minutes before Bush looking like schoolchildren at a birthday party as they searched the floor for the little yellow pieces of paper with their names on them.
Full report after the jump.
Subject: POOL REPORT #1, 7/15/04
Bush signs the ID-Theft legislation in the Roosevelt Room Bush took no questions.
Is this still the party of Ronald Reagan? Then how come party stalwarts like John Ashcroft, John Snow and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Ut., can't hit their mark? They stumbled into the Roosevelt Room a couple minutes before Bush looking like schoolchildren at a birthday party as they searched the floor for the little yellow pieces of paper with their names on them.
Finallythey figured it out - was the Great Communicator looking on? - after much shuffling of their places in line, in time for the president to walk in. "Thank you for coming; welcome to the White House," Bush said to those guests and another 40 or so seated before him, at which point the TV lights went out, dramatically darkening the room. Bush smiled, lightly chuckled, then waited for the lights to come back on and repeated the welcome verbatim, with a smile. Folks chuckled.
Bush wore a cool blue-grey suit, white shirt and soft orange neckie, and his American flag lapel pin. He cited identity theft as a crime of "stealing" that affected 10 million Americans last year, cost businesses and consumers some $50 billionand a lot of "grief and hassle."
He sat briefly at a small wooden table to sign the bill.
"Do we get a pen," someone asked. "You get a handshake," Bush replied with a smile.
Hetook no questions - was it worry that those lights might go back on the blink? - but offered a hearty bipartisan handshake to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
"Ellis, good to see you," Bush told Schumer. A puzzled Schumer aide said Ellis is Schumer's middle name, though he seldom uses it.
Is that what people call him, your pooler inquired. "No," said the aide. Also present: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Ca. (standing); Sen. Zell Miller, 'D'-Ga., (seated); Sen. Jeff Sessions, D, Al. (seated); Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Ca., (seated); and assorted others.
Bob Deans
Cox Newspapers