Bush Is Winning Points in Polls on Style
JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: Both Democrats and Republicans are finding that Washington's a bit of a different place these days, since George W. Bush and company came to town. Joining us today to talk more about changing style and what that means to substance is our senior White House correspondent John King. Now, John, people talk about style and what it has to do with substance. I guess if you're going to be president of the United States, and leader of the free world, there's not much of an advance education you can get. You've got to look at your predecessors to set a standard there. Who does Mr. Bush most model himself after?</s>JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, many in Washington 100-plus days into this administration comparing this president not to his father, the 41st president, but more and more to Ronald Reagan. This president, George W. Bush is certainly more conservative than his father was, much more like Reagan in that regard, same pushing tax cuts. This is his first agenda item. That was number one for Ronald Reagan too. This president also much more comfortable, if you will, on the rope lining, the back-slapping of politics than his father was. This administration makes clear and the president has made clear he believes one of his father's biggest mistakes was right out of the Gulf War when then-former president -- now-former President Bush had 80 percent, 90 percent approval rating, but he had so much political capital and he failed to spend it. And then he went on to lose, obviously, in 1992 to Bill Clinton. This is a president who believes, George W. Bush, that you get some victories, you store up some capital and hey, you can't take it with you, so you might as well spend it. That's what he's trying to do now.</s>CHEN: You can't take it with you. Good point there, John. All right, let's look to our live chat for some questions. Tim Griffin asks on our live Web chat: "What do the White House correspondents think of Mr. Bush's availability?"</s>KING: He's had a mixed record so far. He's been pretty available to us. In the early days of the Clinton administration, President Clinton was, and then there were other times, say early in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, when Mr. Clinton was not. This a president who has not had many of the formal news conferences in the East Room. He hasn't had one yet, for example, but he does make himself available almost on a daily basis for at least one or two questions. So, so far, a relatively open administration.</s>CHEN: You have mentioned Mr. Bush and his connections to his father. Let's talk a little about other elements of family affairs: Mrs. Bush, who has just been named one of the most beautiful people by "People" magazine. Where does she fit in to the Bush vision of a presidency this time?</s>KING: Well, this president will use her very aggressively when it comes to the subject of education. She's a former schoolteacher. She wants to highlight some literacy projects, just as Mr. Bush's mother did, Barbara Bush, when she was here in the first Bush administration. She will focus a lot on education. That will be her signature issue. Other than that, she's more out of the limelight than, say, Hillary Clinton was. Mrs. Clinton was involved in a number of issues. Mrs. Bush says she will be largely a traditional first lady, with the exception of her very strong emphasis on education.</s>CHEN: And also different -- although you said that Mr. Bush had some parallels to the Reagan administration, different than Mrs. Reagan's role in the White House as well.</s>KING: Well, certainly this -- this White House has not gotten around yet to some of the things we came to know Nancy Reagan for, the entertainment here at the White House. Mrs. Reagan, of course, did head up the "just say no to drugs" campaign. And much as she was very public with that, that was her niche, if you will, on the policy front in the Reagan administration. We will see more and more of Laura Bush traveling. She wants to recruit people into teaching, she wants to focus into literacy. She does travel around the country a bit. Not getting as much attention in these early days, and they like to joke around here: "She will never run for Senate."</s>CHEN: All right, let's get another question from the live Web chat. now, Susie South asking: "Do people seem to be responding positively to Mr. Bush's down-home style?"</s>KING: Well, if you look at public opinion polls, certainly right now the president is doing very well on issues like likability. His job performance rating is in the 60s, that's right up there where Ronald Reagan was, or Bill Clinton was. So, he's doing quite well on those. There are some doubts raised about his agenda, still some wounds. You were talking earlier on the show about election reform in Florida. A lot of evidence in the polling that many Democrats still skeptical of this president, many independents still not quite so sure what to make of him. So, on the style points, right now, they're pretty high. Mr. Bush knows in the end he will be judged on substance. But his view and the view of his political advisers is this: if this president seems comfortable in office, if he seems at ease, if he's very likable, the people will be much more likely to listen to what he says.</s>CHEN: Yes, and on that -- I'm told from the control room this has got to be a quick answer, John -- but what about hosting of international leaders? What about his style in doing that?</s>KING: Well, he likes to get to know them before he does business with them. You saw that walk in the woods at Camp David with Tony Blair. He's met three times already with the Mexican president. This is a man who believes: familiarity fist, and then we'll do some business.</s>CHEN: Our senior White House correspondent John King with a look at things behind the scenes. Thanks very much, John.