For a Minute I Was a Fan....

Over the last six years I have had ample opportunities to express my dissatisfaction, frustration, and at times anger with our President. At issue in most of these cases was not only my disagreement with the policy advanced by the Administration, but also by the way it was presented. This White House has been smug, secretive, and condescending. The President himself seems to epitomize these attitudes, often spewing nonsense that leaves the audience questioning the intelligence of their fearless leader.

More than the many "Bushisms" (there are now three full books of funny, flipped, or down-right stupid remarks made by Bush) it is his disingenuous delivery that makes one feel like they are watching a high school play. To his supporters this is the essence of his leadership style. Strong, decisive, and not afraid to say what is on his mind, and absolutely unrelenting when questioned. Through five plus years of Bush 43, he had never admitted making an error, never backed down from a previous statement, and never claimed responsibility for a blunder. Instead he surrounded himself in the insular cage of the West Wing. That small group of advisors for which outsiders were banned. Press conferences were choreographed, interviews were pre-screened, and even ordinary citizens had to sign pledges of allegiance to the President simply to attend a "public" event.

However, over the past few months that has began to change. The steel curtain around the West Wing has been lowered and the President has began to answer questions. This is not such a novel concept, but one that the Administration long resisted. So what prompted the change you ask? Legacy. A President's second term is about creating, cultivating, and leaving a legacy to the country and to the world. With a little over two years remaining on his contract, Bush sees his popularity at an all time low. His political agenda is in shambles (social security, immigration, etc), his party is surrounded by scandal (Abramhoff, Delay, Libby), and his legacy as a man of action, a man of the people is quickly slipping away. Yes, drastic times call for drastic measures, and that is what we saw this past week from the White House.

Bush went on television and shocked almost everyone with his mea culpa. Admitting for the first time that mistakes were made in the handling of the war. Specifically admitting the damaging effects of the Abu Graib scandal. That's not where it stopped though. He admitted that one of his biggest regrets was his attitude and language at the beginning of the war. Saying that it was a mistake to say "Bring em' on" and "We will get them dead or alive". He even went as far as saying that he should have been more sophisticated in his rhetoric. All the while he delivered his self admission with a true genuineness that even this liberal Democrat had to applaud. It seems that there has been some evolution and growth in the White House over the past few months. Bush has come not only to realize, but to publicly say that the leader of our country has a responsibility to be mature enough to admit his mistakes and to show that he has learned from them.

I do not anticipate that I will ever see eye-to-eye with the President's ideals and policies, but for the first time I felt like the President was actually speaking to me. This press conference was not designed for the blue blood elites, for the neo-cons, or for the religious right. No, this time we got to see our President stand up and speak to all of us, to admit to us that mistakes had been made. Is there much more that we can and should expect of our President? Absolutely. But for a few minutes (and I am sure this will change tomorrow) I have to say I was a fan.