President Bush’s recent woes are best summed up with a line from that cinematic classic, “Cool Hand Luke”: “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”

The forthcoming departure of White House communication director Dan Bartlett was, for some, a sign that President George W. Bush finally gets it; that he understands voters’ frustrations with his administration’s lackluster ability to communicate. Yet Bartlett, a 14-year Bush loyalist, is hardly to blame. Powerful presidential persuasion starts at the top.

So why can’t this White House get its oratorical act together? One explanation might lie with Bush’s current speechwriters. At a recent social gathering, I spoke to one woman who told me a story that would send a shiver up a speechwriter’s spine.

While chatting with one of Bush’s newly installed speechwriters, the woman said she mentioned how much she loved President Ronald Reagan’s “Pointe du Hoc” speech, delivered on cliffs overlooking Normandy Beach. The young new presidential wordsmith looked at the woman with a quizzical look. The presidential speech writer confessed to being unfamiliar with the speech but was looking forward to reading it.

This story continues below
Advertisement

This White House’s communication foibles, however, extend beyond historical amnesia. The current Bush administration is afflicted with the same malady the last Bush administration suffered from: an inability or unwillingness to capitalize on its successes.

To wit: In November 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down, President George H.W. Bush said he didn’t want to make a public relations stunt out of the historic moment and be seen as trying to link himself to the event. So complete was his disdain for claiming credit that Bush Sr. refused to travel to Berlin and be photographed at the historic scene.

Prudent and humble? Perhaps. A missed communicative opportunity? Absolutely. If Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton’s political strategists had been in charge, they would have had their presidents swinging a sledge hammer against the evil edifice while international camera crews beamed back the iconic images.

Since Sept. 11, like his father, Bush has seemed unable to capitalize on his successes. To be sure, the “Mission Accomplished” moment may have made some in this White House gun shy when it comes to claiming presidential credit. But it shouldn’t.

For example, why isn’t there a Homeland Security Web site called securitysuccesses.com that catalogs a running laundry list of foiled terrorist plots, a sort of “tally board of terrorism”? If such a site exists, why don’t voters know about it?

Last month we foiled a terrorist plot to bomb Fort Dix. This week, authorities foiled a terrorist plot to blow up fuel lines running under JFK Airport. The administration should pound the security message — its greatest strength — loudly and consistently; they must stay on message.

A Web site won’t change opinion overnight. But giving Matt Drudge — the axis on which the media universe spins — and the rest of us a user-friendly “security scorecard” would send a clear message: “Terrorists are trying to kill us. I am tirelessly trying to kill them. Thank you for your patience.”

Conservatives will rejoinder that the liberal media muddle Bush’s message. True enough. But when have liberal media not thrown roadblocks in front of Republicans? That’s no excuse. Adapt.

The same goes for getting out positive news about America’s strong and growing economy. Once again, perhaps the Bush family genes are to blame, as Bush Sr. suffered a similar fate on an economy that was perceived as weak when, in fact, it was on the uptick well before the 1992 election. But in the world of presidential communication, perception is reality.

So instead of FDR’s “Fireside Chats,” why not create a series of YouTube-friendly “Monitor-Side Chats” wherein the president and/or his surrogates communicate economic success in ways Americans can relate to? Be spontaneous. Use humor. Show heart. Infuse innovation in communication.

President Bush isn’t running for re-election in 2008, but Republicans are. What Democrats and their liberal friends in the mainstream media understand is that the angrier Americans are at this president, the further the GOP will be forced to distance themselves from him come 2008. Put simply: Liberal attacks and negative news stories will continue.

Some conservatives believe that angst over Iraq and illegal immigration render Bush’s rhetorical efforts irrelevant. But chalking up the president’s remaining 597 days in office to “a failure to communicate” is a recipe for Republican disaster come 2008.

If the president’s incoming communications team doesn’t go on offense, the GOP will remain on defense. Smart, strategic and strong communication is the key.

Wynton C. Hall is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. His latest book, “Landmark Speeches of the American Conservative Movement,” is co-edited with Peter Schweizer.