Stephen Hess
Stephen Hess
Stephen H. Hessis a senior fellow emeritus in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution. He studies media, the U.S. presidency, political dynasties and the U.S. government. He first joined Brookings in 1972 and was distinguished research professor of media and public affairs at the George Washington University. He served on Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon's White House staff and as an adviser to Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter...
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It certainly has some effect on his immediate domestic agenda. He has no money for anything but Katrina.
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His name is thrown into the mix. Big time.
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If it were an ordinary year, a traditional year, sort of a simple first year of a president's second term, you would have to say he had a pretty good year.
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He has come to symbolize how unprepared this administration was for this disaster, fairly or unfairly,
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Had this been handled expeditiously, quickly, it might have been a story on the style page, or limited to the late night comedians and the cartoonists. There's simply no question they fumbled this one.
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He has two major problems: the price of gas and the number of Americans killed in Iraq. Basically nothing is going to change for him until one or both of those problems are alleviated.
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He doesn't put in the equal sign. But it's not so subtle that any Future Farmer of America wouldn't catch on pretty quickly.
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He does hold the administration's feet to the fire, and that's awfully helpful at this point.
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Suddenly the campaign is over, they wake up and the press is not seeking their opinion. There's no more entourage, no Secret Service. It's very, very difficult.
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Cindy Sheehan had one glorious shining moment and she took advantage of it and the peace movement took advantage of her as it created the attention that the movement hadn't had previously.
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But it's embarrassing when they're caught at it. This time, we caught them leaking from the top.
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At this stage of an administration, nearly six years into it, it's incredibly difficult to get new people. Time is short. The most creative, interesting things have already been done.
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That's big guns, ... wants it clear that the administration is behind him.
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In a strange way, the issue is not as salient, as important or resonates on Main Street as much as politicians or legislators think it does. The reason is simple ? Main Street already thinks politicians are taking favors from lobbyists.