Tuesday, September 13, 2005
The Right Move
No matter what you think of President Bush, his public acceptance for Federal blunders after Hurricane Katrina was right. It was a proper public relations move. The boss stands up for underlings for good and ill, then makes sure failures never happen again. It looks as if Bush is taking this course, and if he is, more power to him. Criticism will continue to be withering, as it should be. But, he ran for the job.
To me, this is the test of his leadership. If he handles the recovery well, he is a better president than I have given him credit for. If he doesn't, I won't be surprised. I've never liked him that much. The true test of a leader is crisis and not times of good feeling. Bush handled 9/11 well, but his handling of Iraq is suspect to any objective observer. It's as if he has his good days and bad.
From a PR perspective, this administration has been puzzling from the outset. Bush has been effective in getting legislation through Congress, but he is a person people love to hate. It makes one wonder, especially since he said after the second election that he had gained a lot of political capital, and he was going to spend it. Circumstances in Iraq and the South spent it for him, and he is scrambling to get out of debt. Perhaps the PR lesson is that one should never look too far ahead. You never know what is coming next.
To me, this is the test of his leadership. If he handles the recovery well, he is a better president than I have given him credit for. If he doesn't, I won't be surprised. I've never liked him that much. The true test of a leader is crisis and not times of good feeling. Bush handled 9/11 well, but his handling of Iraq is suspect to any objective observer. It's as if he has his good days and bad.
From a PR perspective, this administration has been puzzling from the outset. Bush has been effective in getting legislation through Congress, but he is a person people love to hate. It makes one wonder, especially since he said after the second election that he had gained a lot of political capital, and he was going to spend it. Circumstances in Iraq and the South spent it for him, and he is scrambling to get out of debt. Perhaps the PR lesson is that one should never look too far ahead. You never know what is coming next.
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