The Presidential Sound Bite Machine

Newsweek -- IN AN AUDACIOUS ACT of political alchemy, the Bush administration turned the terrorist strike in Saudi Arabia to its advantage. The bombings are evidence that Al Qaeda remains a threat, that the war against terrorism is ongoing, and—by implication—nobody should question a wartime president. “It’s heads I win; tails you lose,” says a Senate Democrat.

The Bush alchemists are equally effective on the home front. Dividend-tax relief for high-rollers appeared headed for the dustbin of history until Bush took to the hustings promoting it as a “jobs and growth bill.” Even the bill’s supporters have a hard time justifying its passage as a vehicle to create jobs. The Congressional Budget Office assessed the bill as having only a marginal impact on the economy, either positive or negative, they weren’t sure which. The CBO is not a socialist enterprise; it’s headed by a Republican appointee.

Bush defines presidential rhetoric. Since most people get their news through sound bites, the technique serves him well. Operation Iraqi Freedom endures in the world of cable despite the chaos and continuing insurrection in the country. “Jobs and Growth” rolls off the tongue of television anchors even though the growth is mainly for large fortunes since millionaires are the biggest beneficiaries of Bush’s tax cut. Whatever the label, it becomes the reality. Those who dare oppose Bush’s questionable economic policy run into another convenient sound bite. They’re guilty of “class warfare.”

Bush travels the country demanding that Washington exercise fiscal sanity when he’s the biggest inmate on the loose. His tax cut is irresponsible and will jeopardize Social Security, but it is smart politics. It keeps the Republican base activated, and it silences the Democrats by casting them as whiners and naysayers and denying them the government money for programs that serve traditionally Democratic constituencies. “The Democrats in Washington are irrelevant,” says a Senate Republican. “They might as well follow their Texas cohorts and leave town.” At least the Texas lawmakers, in fleeing across the border to Oklahoma, got the media to pay attention to the heavy-handed tactics of the Republican majority. Congressional Democrats are more inclined to make nice with Bush, as Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson did this week when he relented on Bush’s tax cut in exchange for modest assistance to cash-strapped states.