The Pothole President

Wherever and whenever the president sees a mayor, he blurts out one word: "potholes."

Bush has employed this word association about 30 times in speeches, when he introduces the local mayor. In Appleton, Wis., last week, he advised Mayor Tim Hanna: "Fill the potholes and empty the garbage. All will be well." Three weeks earlier it was Harvey Hall, mayor of Bakersfield, Calif., who received the same advice. Bush has given similar instructions to the mayors of St. Petersburg, Seminole and Clearwater, Fla.; Springfield, Mo.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Roswell, N.M.; Little Rock; Pasco, Wash.; Santa Monica, Calif.; and Livonia and Dearborn, Mich. Noting that Mayor Al Cappuccilli of Monroe, Mich., received loud applause, Bush observed: "You must be filling the potholes, picking up the garbage; that's the way to go."

No city executive has endured the pothole joke more often than Washington's own Mayor Anthony A. Williams. Bush first singled out Williams in the Rose Garden in April 2001, noting to laughter: "There's a couple of potholes out back that I'd like to talk to you about."

Bush delivered the same joke at Williams's expense in May, June and July.

el - the same joke on the same guy every month for four months?