President Bush on Wednesday gave the job of White House press secretary to conservative commentator Tony Snow, who recently wrote that Bush was “something of an embarrassment.”
“He?s not afraid to express his own opinions,” Bush acknowledged while introducing Snow in the White House press briefing room. “He sometimes has disagreed with me.”
“I asked him about those comments and he said: ?You should have heard what I said about the other guy,? ” the president added with a smile.
Snow, who hosts television and radio programs for Fox News, immediately extended an olive branch to the White House press corps, which has long been frustrated by the Bush administration?s legendary secrecy.
“Believe it or not, I want to work with you,” Snow told reporters. “These are times that are going to be very challenging. We?ve got a lot of big issues ahead, and we?ve got a lot of important things that all of us are going to be covering together.”
Snow is the president?s third press secretary and replaces Scott McClellan, who held the post for two years and nine months. Ari Fleischer was Bush?s original spokesman.
“The American people should get ready for another Snow job from the Bush White House,” Karen Finney, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement. “Tony Snow represents more of the same, not the fresh start the administration needed.”
Snow was promised more freedom to speak and more access to inside information than McClellan had.
Snow said he made it clear during negotiations with White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten that he will need greater conversational latitude than McClellan, who hewed closely to administration talking points when briefing reporters.
Snow also won assurances that he will be kept in the loop at the highest levels of decision-making in the West Wing. Reporters sometimes suspected McClellan of being out of the loop.
By convincing the White House to meet his demands up front, Snow may have increased his odds of survival in one of the most grueling jobs in Washington. While no presidential spokesman is politically bulletproof, Snow may be in a strong position to serve out the final 1,000 days of the Bush presidency with a solid mandate from his boss.
Because it would be embarrassing for Bush to sack another spokesman during the last years of his term, the president would probably forgive any early missteps by Snow as he learns to navigate the minefields of daily encounters with the press corps.
While Snow describes himself as a Bush supporter, he has not been afraid to disagree the president. Bush?s willingness to hire a critic bodes well for Snow?s ability to speak more freely with reporters than McClellan could.
