behind the news

A Kinder, Gentler Press Briefing?

It’s hard to imagine Scott McClellan or Ari Fleischer tearing up at the podium, but Tony Snow did just that today in his on-camera debut as...
May 16, 2006

It’s hard to imagine Scott McClellan tearing up at the podium, and harder still to imagine Ari Fleischer doing so. But today, Tony Snow did — part of a first on-camera press briefing that took on a distinctly more respectful and down-to-earth tone than the epic confrontations of the late McClellan era.

About three-quarters of the way through today’s briefing, a reporter asked a question about voting rights for the District of Columbia, then snuck in an unrelated follow-up: “Why did you choose to wear the yellow bracelet today? What’s the importance to you?”

That brought about Snow’s self-described “Ed Muskie moment” — far more compelling than the standard give-and-take he and reporters engaged in for much of the 37-minute session.

Snow, who was diagnosed with and defeated colon cancer last year, explained that he had lost his old wristband “in hospital having my last cancer surgery.” “It’s going to sound stupid, and I’ll be personal here,” he continued, then grew quiet. He raised his finger, and fidgeted. Suddenly, Tony Snow was fighting off tears.

Snow gradually regained his composure, even inserting a slight jab at the press as he concluded his answer: “[T]he technologies that were available to me that have me standing behind this podium today, where the doctor has said you don’t have to worry about getting cancer, just heartburn talking to these people — that’s a wonderful thing.”

After taking a beating over the weekend for his poorly planned first “gaggle” with White House reporters last Friday — “Snow and Media Get Off to Frosty Start,” said a Los Angeles Times headline, with the paper adding that his attempt at a casual briefing had quickly turned “chaotic and contentious” — Snow came off as confident, well-versed on the issues and very businesslike today. He smiled sparingly, made few jokes, and barely looked at his notes.

Sign up for CJR's daily email

His initial answers set the tone. Discussing USA Today‘s story about the NSA’s massive phone records database, Snow told Helen Thomas, “Well, again, you are jumping to conclusions about a program, the existence of which we will neither confirm nor deny.” When ABC’s Martha Raddatz asked why President Bush would not declassify the program, Snow responded, “I am not going to stand up here and presume to declassify any kind of program. That is a decision the president has to make. I can’t confirm or deny it. The president was not confirming or denying.” Referring to the USA Today story for context, Snow concluded: “I don’t want to hug the tar baby of trying to comment on the program … the alleged program, the existence of which I can neither confirm nor deny.”

Various times Snow (a la McClellan, and many a press secretary before him) would not answer a reporter’s question. Asked if Karl Rove had told Bush he would resign if indicted in the “Valerie Plame affair,” Snow responded flatly, “I am not going to comment at all on Karl Rove and his private communications with the president, nor am I going to comment on what may or may not happen.” Asked if Bush had not talked with the border state governors before advancing his National Guard plan, Snow said, “I’m not going to get you in on deliberations. Honestly, I’m not sure.” When the reporter pressed the point, Snow replied, “I’m not going to get into what the president did or didn’t do.”

A moment later, another reporter caught Snow tripping on legislative procedure, so Snow promptly offered that he had been “presumptuous.” “You’re absolutely right,” he said, holding up one hand. “I overstepped and should not be making predictions about what the Senate will do, and we’ll leave it to the Senators themselves.”

It was one of several notable moments of candor — at one point Snow said, “You know what, rather than have me fake it, I will get a precise number to you,” bringing a few guffaws — and the press, for its part, seemed placated. While reporters pressed Snow at times, no journalist used the gambit of quoting one of Snow’s criticisms of Bush from his days as a Fox News commentator, and the briefing contained relatively little conflict.

For many viewers, we suspect, the overall exchange came off as a breath of fresh air, as reporters asked their questions and Snow rather straightforwardly answered them — without the posturing and theatrics that have lately become both more commonplace and irritating.

With time — or a fresh political controversy or two — the relationship between Tony Snow and the White House press corps may degenerate. But on this first day, at least, their time together in front of the cameras was civil and relatively productive. Imagine that.

Edward B. Colby was a writer at CJR Daily.