I'll Drink To That

As noted here in a column by New York Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Bushco reopened the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room yesterday for its dutiful Beltway stenographers, at a taxpayer cost of $6 million (the total renovation cost was $8 million).

Press Secretary Tony Snow Job, of course, created some fanciful narrative whereby Laura noticed decrepit wiring in the old room and commanded, “This won’t do. Fix it,” and then, as if by magic, all was made better (largely on our dime, of course).

And why exactly has this all transpired? Well, because Bushco isn’t being featured in the news as much as it would like, and they’re looking for sympathetic reporting (awwwww).

As Stolberg notes…

Mr. Bush’s communications team, trying to gin up coverage, has gotten more creative. Last summer, he held a news conference in Chicago intended to attract regional coverage. In April, he used high-tech electronic graphics in Grand Rapids, Mich., to promote his troop buildup in Iraq. He held one town-hall-style meeting in Tipp City, Ohio, in April, and another Tuesday in Cleveland — a departure for a White House that prefers controlled events.

“They have to dig a little bit deeper into their toolkit at this point in the presidency to get the front-page coverage,” said Martha Joynt Kumar, a political scientist at Towson University in Maryland who studies the White House communications operation.

Can I make a suggestion?

Dubya should hold the next press briefing during happy hour at a local upscale pub, or, short of that, set up a wet bar in the briefing room. Maybe if everyone involved got a little lubricated and felt less inhibited, we’d get reporting that would represent a better return on our money.

Update: Yep, I think BarbinMD's one-word analysis here is spot-on ("Cogitate," huh? I didn't know that word appeared in Archie Comics anywhere.)