This comes to us from White House correspondent Kenneth T. Walsh:
Never mind.
President Bush and his strategists didn't get much of a political or PR pop from his six-day trip to Latin America, which ended Wednesday. White House officials had hoped that the five-nation visit would enhance Bush's stature as a world leader, but it appeared to have little impact. The president didn't score any major breakthroughs on policy grounds, and he didn't get big play in the American media. The Washington Post, for example, didn't put the trip on its front page until yesterday, and that was in a story that focused mainly on problems that were erupting back home--especially the fuss over the firing of those U.S. attorneys. The headline over the piece read, "White House Finds Trouble Harder to Shrug Off."
"Oh, was he gone?" quipped a senior Republican strategist when asked to assess Bush's trip. Turning serious, the strategist added: "Actually, he was hoping to get back on the radar in a positive way. It didn't happen."
Instead, Bush was embarrassed by the continuing furor over inadequate conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the brouhaha over the dismissal of the U.S. attorneys. Some senators suspect that they were misled about the reason for the firings and the White House role in them, and hearings are expected soon on Capitol Hill. There will also be hearings on Walter Reed.
In the coverage of the trip that did occur, Bush's trip generated considerable negative analysis about his unpopularity in Latin America and his disagreements with regional leaders. The Post story on Page A9 yesterday focused on Bush's meetings with Mexican President Felipe Calderon under the headline," Calderon Admonishes Bush on Thorny Issues." Today's New York Times carried a Page 1 story, "Answering Latin Left, Bush Pledges to Help Poor." The story took a hard-edged look at Bush's "urgent attempt to stave off the growing regional influence of populist leaders like President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who have used the discontent of the poor to push an anti-American agenda."
Hardly the kind of glowing notices that the White House was hoping for.
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