[Mb-civic] Aiming to Burst 'Bubble' Theory - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Aiming to Burst 'Bubble' Theory
President Takes Impromptu Audience Questions in Kansas

By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 24, 2006; A04

MANHATTAN, Kan., Jan. 23 -- The presidency may be a bully pulpit, but 
President Bush used it on Monday more like a campfire leader than a 
political preacher.

As if to rebut charges that he lives in a White House bubble that leaves 
him exposed only to handpicked audiences, Bush spent most of an 
hour-and-40-minute session here chatting with questioners pulled from 
the seats of the Kansas State University arena. Before a crowd of 9,000 
students, faculty members, supporters and soldiers, Bush alternated 
between serious oration about terrorism and lighthearted banter about 
his family and dog.

He bemoaned "needless name-calling" in Washington and said that rather 
than get angry he tries to "burn off that excess energy" with exercise. 
He talked nuclear weapons and immigration and the Supreme Court. He had 
tough words for Iran and softer words for China. He said his wife does 
not hesitate to give advice, "which can be too frequent sometimes," then 
quickly added: "Not true, honey." By the end of the event, White House 
transcribers recorded 61 instances of audience laughter.

But the fresh format came with its own perils, such as off-message 
questions about education spending cuts and feisty personalities such as 
an Iraqi American woman who praised Bush's foreign policy yet seemed 
reluctant to give up the microphone to hear his response.

The forum was a departure for the control-oriented, gaffe-fearing Bush 
White House, which has preferred not to put the president in public 
settings open to unpredictable and potentially hostile questions. His 
"town hall" meetings on Social Security last year, for instance, usually 
consisted of preselected panelists engaging in discussions rehearsed the 
night before with a White House official.

Last month, Bush was criticized for breaking with tradition and refusing 
to take questions after a speech on Iraq at the Council on Foreign 
Relations. A few days later, Newsweek ran a cover story titled "Bush in 
the Bubble," suggesting he cuts himself off from the outside world. The 
White House pulled a surprise the next day by inviting audience members 
to quiz the president after a speech in Philadelphia. It repeated the 
format last week after an economic speech in Loudoun County, and White 
House aides said they plan to make it a regular feature for a while.

Here in Kansas, it was a friendly crowd gathered in a solidly red state. 
White House officials said the university was in charge of attendance, 
but that they did give some tickets to local Republicans to hand out to 
GOP supporters. About 100 people protested the Iraq war in 34-degree 
weather outside the arena, but on his drive into the university Bush was 
treated to the sight of hundreds of well-wishers waving from front yards.

A student in the Air Force ROTC asked him to talk about how he handles 
assaults on his character. A former beef industry official praised his 
efforts to get beef exports into Japan after mad cow scares in the 
United States. One person asked him to talk about his wife.

There were more weighty questions, of course, about the fate of the 
troubled nation of Sudan and on security and economic threats from 
abroad. "I am deeply concerned about Iran, as should a lot of people 
be," Bush said. "The world cannot be put in a position where we can be 
blackmailed by a nuclear weapon."

To Bush's delight, a Kurdish American woman offered effusive praise of 
his decision to go to war in Iraq. "Please stop questioning the 
administration and their decision," she declared. "It was the best 
decision anybody could make."

Yet, to Bush's bafflement, she repeatedly tried to return to the 
microphone and keep talking. Bush playfully cut her off over and over to 
get in his own thoughts, but she did not make it easy.

And there were unexpected topics. A sophomore asked why officials were 
cutting student aid by $12.7 billion. "How's that supposed to help our 
futures?" she asked. Bush seemed perplexed and asked if she meant 
federal money. "What we did is reform the student loan program," he 
said. "We're not cutting money out of it. . . . We're not taking people 
off student loans, we're saving money in the student loan program, 
because it's inefficient."

But in that small exchange, an avenue of attack opened for Democrats. 
"The President may think that gutting $12.7 billion from student aid 
isn't a cut, but our students certainly do," Senate Minority Leader 
Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement rushed out after the speech.

Another student asked Bush as a ranch owner for his review of "Brokeback 
Mountain," an acclaimed film about two ranch hands in a gay 
relationship. "You would love it," the student said.

Faced with a topic sensitive to his conservative base, Bush retreated 
into ignorance. "I'd be glad to talk about ranching," he said, "but I 
haven't seen the movie."

Finally, he had to go. The session had been longer and looser than 
usual, but for a man who expresses disdain for the ways of Washington, 
Bush was thinking of home by day's end. "I'd like to be here for a 
longer period of time," he said, "but Laura is serving dinner for 
retiring Alan Greenspan, and I better not be late."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/23/AR2006012301550.html?nav=hcmodule
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