The American Spectator

I’m delighted to join the band of merry blogggers here and look forward to throwing in my two cents from time to time.

Peggy Noonan, in her own chatty style today, comments on the Bush press conference yesterday. She is sympathetic with viewers, even devoted Republicans, who would like to “fire” Bush. As Wlady and Quin discussed yesterday, Bush has now so depleted his political capital and effectiveness that even solid performances no longer resonate with the GOP base, let alone the public. At times it does seem like those delightful Charlie Brown TV cartoons when you hear “squawk!” “squawk!” whenever the grown-ups speak. Whether others —be it John McCain or Joe Lieberman or General Petraeus— can step into the role and make the case to the Congress and public is questionable. Surely this is Example 999 of why it is critical to find a presidential candidate for 2008 who can articulate a message, sell the public and inhabit the role of Persuader in Chief.