The Guardian on why Bush invited himself on a state visit to Britain next week:
“A clue can be found in the text studied more closely than any other by the political operatives in the Bush White House: the campaign to re-elect Ronald Reagan in 1984.
“That made heavy use of TV footage which cast Reagan as a statesman, at home across the globe. A favourite sequence showed the president and the Queen on horseback in Windsor Great Park during his 1982 visit.
“The Bush team want some royal shots like that of their own. Apparently they were particularly keen on an open-carriage procession down the Mall, and are said to be disheartened by London’s suggestion that that might not be possible due to ‘security.’
“One Republican source, close to the White House, has a theory as to why the Queen is such an important catch for the image makers. ‘Look, Americans don’t know shit. They’re not going to recognise the prime minister of the Philippines. The only foreign leaders they could pick out are the Queen of England and the Pope — and we’ve already got those pictures.’ With the Pontiff in the can, the Queen is the co-star the president needs.”
Americans--possibly some in the needed voting precincts?--fawn over royalty; a "Royal" need have no virtues beyond his/her royal title to be popular in the USA (yes, even right here in Litchfield County, Connecticut).
Also, Bush will do well to display that he knows somebody in Britain beyond Tony Blair.
Being from Litchfield County myself I can testify that you're dead right, Hoffman. I fawn perpetually over the Royal family, and am worried sick over these rumors about Prince Charles.
Posted by: Jerry Doolittle on November 14, 2003 09:44 AMI can't wait to see Her Madge's body language in the photos & footage. She'll look like GWB tried to break into boudoir. And how will the campaign commercials frame the Pope footage, I wonder? "Here's George setting one anti-Iraq-war evildoer straight."
I'm betting the stuff will be about as useful as the USS Lincoln photo op.
Posted by: Peanut on November 14, 2003 10:10 AMCouldn't a Bush + Pope picture be countered with the official papal statements on, say, the Iraq war and the death penalty? The pope's made a lot of personal appeals re death row prisoners to various U.S. governors, and G. Bush must have been one of them.
Posted by: on November 14, 2003 10:48 PM