[Mb-civic] Plenty of Embarrassment to Go Around - Dana Milbank - Washington Post Political Analysis

[William Swiggard]

Plenty of Embarrassment to Go Around

By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 19, 2006; 5:42 PM

The Metaphor Alert sounded at the White House at about 9:45 a.m.

Minutes earlier, press secretary Scott McClellan had announced his 
resignation on the South Lawn and hopped aboard Marine One for a trip to 
Andrews Air Force Base with President Bush. The helicopter doors closed, 
the rotors began to spin, and then stopped a minute later. The doors 
re-opened and the president exited with a shrug. He just can't gain 
altitude these days.

"We have an issue with the helicopter," reported Bush, as his staff 
hastily prepared a motorcade. "Everybody's safe."

If only.

Nobody's safe at the White House these days, as new Chief of Staff Josh 
Bolten swings his axe. Andy Card is gone, McClellan and senior Bush aide 
Jim Towey will soon be gone, and Karl Rove had to give up one of his 
jobs. There's a new director at OMB, a new deputy staff chief in the 
White House -- and plenty more shaking up still to come.

It must be a particularly difficult moment for McClellan -- and the 
malfunctioning helicopter is the least of his problems. It speaks 
volumes about McClellan's relationship with the press that he chose to 
announce his departure while the White House press corps was about 
30,000 feet over Alabama.

The reporters were on a charter flight to Tuskegee, due to land at 10:05 
a.m. for a Bush speech later in the day. McClellan broke the news at 
9:39 a.m. to the few wire reporters and camera crews that had stayed 
behind at the White House.

McClellan had lost much of his credibility with the press when he 
vigorously asserted that neither Rove nor vice presidential aide I. 
Lewis "Scooter" Libby was involved in the CIA leak scandal -- and then 
refused to talk about it when his assertions were disproved. It put 
selfless loyalty to Bush above McClellan's own reputation. His reward: 
becoming the victim of a staff shakeup.

McClellan was fairly candid about the forced circumstances of his 
departure. "The White House is going through a period of transition; 
change can be helpful," he told Bush on the lawn. "I have given it my 
all, sir, and I've given you my all." The few witnesses reported him to 
be choked up.

Bush bestowed the dreaded "heckuva job" laurel on McClellan ("job well 
done" was today's version) and said: "I don't know whether or not the 
press corps realizes this, but his is a challenging assignment dealing 
with you all on a regular basis."

It was, of course, made particularly challenging by Bush himself, who 
undermined his press secretary by arming him with little information to 
share with the public.

Fortunately for McClellan, conversation in Washington quickly turned to 
his successor. The name of Fox News radio host Tony Snow was floated, 
leading to the inevitable wisecracks about whether he would be getting 
back pay for all the pro-Bush broadcasting he has done.

CNN's John Roberts took the unusual step of mentioning on the air an 
e-mail he got from McClellan's former deputy. "Just got an e-mail from 
my old friend Trent Duffy, who was one of the deputies, saying, thanks a 
lot, man. Please include me in the . . . list of people as The 
Washington Post and others are."

Roberts added, belatedly: "Sorry, Trent."

If it's any consolation, Duffy can be assured that, from helicopter 
avionics to the White House briefing room, there's plenty of 
embarrassment to go around today.

The small group of reporters permitted to travel on Air Force One 
greeted McClellan with handshakes and applause when he went to visit the 
press cabin. He got a pat on the back from Joe Hagin, a deputy staff 
chief in the White House, and was described as "serene" by those who 
viewed him on the plane.

Briefing reporters, modest McClellan gave himself only a one sentence 
mention as he summarized the days news: "And then of course you heard 
the announcement that [Bush] and I made upon departure." Asked whether 
it was voluntary or forced, the spokesman spoke neutrally: "With the new 
chief of staff coming on board, it was a good time to make this decision."

McClellan, who should be worth a substantial sum in private-sector PR, 
said he hasn't thought much about what he'll do when he leaves in two or 
three weeks. To the end, he remained the cautious press secretary when 
asked about his successor ("I'm not going to get into speculating"), 
what he told Bush ("I'll leave it a private conversation") and further 
changes ("nothing else to announce today").

There were frequently times in the past when reporters thought that 
McClellan might quit in frustration over the administration's claims 
about Iraq's weapons or about the untruths he told (and was told) about 
the CIA leak case. For the first time today, he admitted he had 
considered resigning earlier. "I can't say there aren't days before when 
I've thought about it," he told reporters on Air Force One.

But instead of such a gesture, which surely would have been interpreted 
as a protest against his boss, McClellan held on -- until the president 
and colleagues he was so faithful to gave him a push out the door.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041901777.html?nav=hcmodule
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