Is Tony Snow the Right Fit for White House Press Secretary?

[Ivan Seeking]

The irony of picking a spokesman named Snow...
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-04-26T024634Z_01_N25235607_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-MEDIA.xml

Reminds me a bit of the Amway book written by Paul Conn, but what's in a name.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Didn't Bush have a problem with Snow in the past...or was that something else?

 

[Astronuc]

From: Mixed Signals

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5364077

Lots of news today... the lead appears to be the appointment of a new White House press secretary. The man is Tony Snow, currently a Fox News commentator and amateur rock musician in a band called Beats Workin'. Snow is a former speechwriter for Bush the elder and a former editorial writer for The Detroit News.

To Snow's credit, he was a commentator for NPR's Morning Edition.

Snow has been critical of GW's policies.

Don't confuse this Snow with the Secretary of the Treasury - John W. Snow - http://www.ustreas.gov/organization/bios/snow-e.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

David Gergen is a favorite of mine and he spoke highly of Snow, which really surprised me.
http://www.davidgergen.com/

 

[Astronuc]

I visited Gergen's website, but I didn't find any comment about Tom Snow.

I did read - In staff changes, Bush acting reluctantly, and too late.
http://www.davidgergen.com/index.php?page=home&item=704 - from April 23.

Bush should have asked Gergen, but no way would Gergen step into the mess which is Bush's presidency.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Sorry, I think that was a day or two ago on the News Hour, on PBS.

 

[Astronuc]

Probably this one -

Fox News Host Named White House Press Secretary
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5363509

Snow's appointment is notable in a White House that has a reputation for not suffering criticism. He has had some harsh things to say about Bush.

Snow called the president "something of an embarrassment," a leader who has "lost control of the federal budget," the architect of a "listless domestic policy" and a man who has "a habit of singing from the political correctness hymnal."

Bush shrugged off the criticism. "He's not afraid to express his own opinions," he said of his new spokesman. "For those of you who've read his columns and listened to his radio show, he sometimes has disagreed with me. I asked him about those comments, and he said, 'You should have heard what I said about the other guy.'"

We'll see how long the honeymoon lasts.

 

[Astronuc]

At the top of CNN's Reliable Sources this morning [04/24/2006], Howard Kurtz asked David Gergen about the prospect of Tony Snow as White House press secretary:

"Tony is very good," Gergen said. "And he does have -- he certainly has paid some dues in journalism, I'm not sure he would call himself a full-time journalist, but he's worked hard over at Fox News to develop himself and I think he ought to be given credit for that. He also, of course, had the relationship with the Bush family. So he does seem to me, in many ways, a very good possibility for that."

But Gergen said "the real question is whether the president wants to change the way information is given to the press. It's all up to the president . . . .

from http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1620472/posts

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/default.asp

and more on the story - http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/26/snow/index.html