Quote:
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Originally Posted by August
You seem to think the President punches out on a time clock when he leaves the Oval office like some blue collar schmoe leaves the factory to kick back with some beers at the bar on his way home to the wife.
Apparently you don't seem to have a very clear picture of what the job of POTUS entails. Regardless of his location he is on the job 24/7/365. There is nothing he can do in the White House that he can't, and doesn't, do at whether he's at Camp David, flying in Airforce One or at his ranch, and he has the staff and cabinet to ensure it, using the most sophisticated communications network in the world.
Wherever he is he still gets a full round of daily briefings in addition to the regular schedule of meetings and appointments.
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The topic isn't about the inner workings of the position of POTUS, which I'd venture I have at least as clear an idea as anyone else who regularly reads newspapers and watches the news , but about polls and perceptions which that point of mine went to the heart of. Its been the topic of at least two major newspaper articles (that I've read), and I'll post some relevant excerpts from the one I'd enccountered fairly recently (from the Washington Post, Aug 3/05):
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Vacationing Bush Poised to Set a Record
WACO, Tex., Aug. 2 -- President Bush is getting the kind of break most Americans can only dream of -- nearly five weeks away from the office, loaded with vacation time.
[snip]
Bush's long vacations are more than a curiosity: They play into diametrically opposite arguments about this leadership style. To critics and late-night comics, they symbolize a lackadaisical approach to the world's most important day job, an impression bolstered by Bush's periodic two-hour midday exercise sessions and his disinclination to work nights or weekends. The more vociferous among Bush's foes have noted that he spent a month at the ranch shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when critics assert he should have been more attentive to warning signs. [also he was either on, or just returning from vacation during the critical first days of Katrina]
[snip]
Until now, probably no modern president was a more famous vacationer than Ronald Reagan, who loved spending time at his ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif. According to an Associated Press count, Reagan spent all or part of 335 days in Santa Barbara over his eight-year presidency -- a total that Bush will surpass this month in Crawford with 3 1/2 years left in his second term."
more and full article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...080201703.html
Another, this time from USA Today and going all the way back to August 3/01:
"White House to move to Texas for a while
WASHINGTON — Six months after taking office, President Bush will begin a month-long vacation Saturday that is significantly longer than the average American's annual getaway. If Bush returns as scheduled on Labor Day, he'll tie the modern record for presidential absence from the White House, held by Richard Nixon at 30 days. Ronald Reagan took trips as long as 28 days.
[snip]
But some Republican loyalists worry about critics who say Bush lets Vice President Cheney and other top officials do most of the work. They're also concerned about the reaction of the average American, who gets 13 vacation days each year.
"It can foster other images," says William Benoit, a professor of political communication at the University of Missouri-Columbia. "Maybe he's lazy, maybe he's not determined. It feeds into the impression that he's not in charge.""
more and full article
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...h-vacation.htm
Those are the kinds of articles I based that point on. As I said in my first post, its one of the many things that may contribute to his low poll numbers. I gave other examples as well. Maybe they have no influence on public opinion, or maybe they are the kind of things that become nestled, insidiously, within the public concious. In any case, that particular point was the focus of articles in major publications (Washington Post, USA Today) with massive distribution so its a fair point regardless of how you personally interpret his time away from the Whitehouse.