Quin Hillyer, blogging at The American Spectator, watched the President’s press conference and concluded this:

 

Bush’s press conference just ended. Lord knows I have criticized his effectiveness at communicating. But what I don’t get is how ANYbody with any rationality or any discernment can watch Bush talking about Iraq and come away believing anything OTHER than that this is a very sincere man, very principled, making what he truly thinks are the best decisions for the national interest, and the best from an idealistic standpoint. Sure, others may argue about his judgment, about his choice of ideals in the first place, or about his competence in trying to put those ideals into effect. But to accuse him of nefarious motives, of hidden agendas, is outrageous.

Hillyer said that the Bush summary was clear though:

In this blog post, this time, I’ll leave aside the nitpicking about his verbal delivery, and leave aside the rehashing of earlier decisions, and instead concentrate on the overall message. The message is A) that we must win in Iraq because failure there would be catastrophic for the US national interest AND a humanitarian catastrophe; and B) that we CAN win in Iraq because we already are seeing success in formerly bleak Anbar Province and because Petraeus is a talented and wise general, etc.

A word about the President’s delivery. In prepared speeches he’s outstanding as he was earlier this week in Cleveland. In small settings as in press confrences he speaks “off-the-cuff”. He doesn’t rely on pre-prepared mantras and rhetorical responses. Its his own personal communication style. When I hear anyone bring this up, I think of our own cultural differences.

Growing up in the south and having moved backi in 1994, I find a sense of familiarity in the manner in which the President communicates, and yes, sounds. This may explain his popularity in the south. And I believe that Bush supporters in the media from the Beltway has just heard so many snide comments from their lib media colleagues, they’ve begun to buy into it.  But as a conservative-and I’m sure many fellow conservatives agree- a liberal tendency is to question the personal intelligence of those on the right. Its a weakness.  

Hillyer, the senior editor of TAS, also has posted this column

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