Bush's Leadership Deficit

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Friday, September 26, 2008

The emergency White House summit that President Bush called as a special favor to Republican presidential candidate John McCain backfired spectacularly yesterday afternoon, leaving what had appeared to be an emerging bipartisan deal in shatters.

So this morning, it was time for the president to come out and show some real leadership.

Instead, Bush briefly popped out of the Oval Office to deliver what, all things considered, may be his lamest remarks ever. Here they are, in their entirety:

"Good morning. My administration continues to work with the Congress on a rescue plan. And we need a rescue plan. This is -- it's hard work. Our proposal is a big proposal. And the reason it's big and substantial is because we got a big problem.

"We also need to move quickly. Now, anytime you have a plan this big, that is moving this quickly, that requires legislative approval, it creates challenges. Members want to be heard. They want to be able to express their opinions, and they should be allowed to express their opinions.

(Continued here.)