Keepers of Bush Image Lift Stagecraft to New Heights

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"We pay particular attention to not only what the president says but what the American people see," White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett told the New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller. "Americans are leading busy lives, and sometimes they don't have the opportunity to read a story or listen to an entire broadcast. But if they can have an instant understanding of what the president is talking about by seeing 60 seconds of television, you accomplish your goals as communicators." Bumiller writes the Bush administration is "going far beyond the foundations in stagecraft set by the Reagan White House, is using the powers of television and technology to promote a presidency like never before." The Times' Paul Krugman see the White House's "pursuit of televised glory" coming at the expense of real world accomplishments. "Mr. Bush strikes heroic poses on TV, but his administration neglects anything that isn't photogenic," Krugman writes.