President George W. Bush’s handlers keep him in
a happy little bubble, comfortably isolated from something kind of
important for a president: reality.
Bush says that he doesn’t read newspapers,
instead trusting his aides to give him any “news” he needs to
know. And when he goes on the road for one of his “town
meetings,” he doesn’t really meet the town. Instead, the
audience is carefully selected by Republican political operatives to make
certain that their man only hears praise from folks who agree with him
— potential critics are sought out in advance and removed from these
“public” meetings.
Basically, Bush hears only from the three pillars of
his political base: corporate executives, Republican Party faithful, and
the extreme Christian right wing. This leaves him clueless about what the
workaday majority of Americans are experiencing and thinking, which helps
explain why he is pushing policies so outside the American mainstream.
For example, Bush keeps insisting that the economy is
booming, and his top economic official, Treasury Secretary John Snow, has
even exclaimed that the economy is in a “sweet spot.” Well,
yes, if you’re a CEO — corporate profits are zooming, at a rate
exceeded only by that of CEO pay. But the reality for working families is
that their wages aren’t even keeping up with the cost of living and
their health care is being cut (assuming that they have any coverage at
all). Only a third of Americans think the economy is improving — and
they’re the only ones Bush ever talks to.
It can be politically dicey for a president to be so
out of touch with ordinary Americans. Indeed, while Bush hides in his
bubble, he has become the least popular second-term president on record.
This article appears in May 12-18, 2005.
