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CNN Crossfire

Is President Bush Taking Too Much Time off For Vacation?

Aired August 08, 2001 - 19:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBERT NOVAK, CO-HOST: Tonight: President Bush's summer vacation. Is he taking off too much time? Or can he do his job at his ranch house just as well as at the White House?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don't have to be in Washington to work. It's amazing what can happen with telephones and faxes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from Washington, CROSSFIRE. On the left, Bill Press; on the right, Robert Novak. In the CROSSFIRE: Democratic strategist Peter Fenn, and Barbara Comstock, research director for the Republican National Committee.

NOVAK: Good evening. Welcome to CROSSFIRE. Supreme Court justices and members of Congress are taking off the month of August. That's not news, but it is news when the president of the United States leaves here to spend the whole month at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

The "Washington Post" calculates that George W. Bush has spent 42 percent of his time as president on vacation or traveling to vacations.

But his aides call his August activity, home to the heartland, with President Bush making side trips. Today, for instance, he did his imitation of Jimmy Carter by helping raise the wooden frame of a Habitat for Humanity house. He also did his imitation of Jerry Ford by accidentally smashing his index finger.

Is it a disgrace for the president to take off so much time? Or is it refreshing for him to spend a vacation in a house he paid for himself instead of following Bill Clinton's path in mooching off rich liberal friends?

Donna Brazile, Al Gore's campaign manager, is sitting in for Bill Press on the left. Welcome, Donna.

DONNA BRAZILE, FORMER GORE CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Barbara, the president once again is on the defensive, this time defending his month long vacation, the longest in presidential campaign history. Let me ask you a question. Recent polls show that 55 percent of the American people believe that the president is spending too much time away from Washington. Is it a bit much? Are you concerned?

BARBARA COMSTOCK, RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: No, not at all because first of all when you're president you never have a day off. How many people on vacation get briefings about Iraqi troop movements or Saddam Hussein? I know I don't when I get those days off. He are in the 21st century, telecommunications age, where wherever the president goes, the Oval Office is with him.

When he's down there with his aides, he is working on issues, he is going to be traveling to six states, eight or nine cities. Today as we heard, the habitat for humanity, he was meeting there, but he was also meeting with HUD secretary Mel Martinez down there before that working on issues. And the real issue is, let's look at the record of accomplishment, not how many hours he sits behind a desk.

This president has had an unprecedented record. The tax bill was passed. He forged together a patients bill of rights bill last week after a six year deadlock. The education bill is sitting in Tom Daschle's in-box, not the president's.

NOVAK: Peter, doesn't Barbara have a point, that you are really a little bit upset about the -- I'll ask the question, then you answer it.

(LAUGHTER)

NOVAK: Doesn't she have a point that he has a good record and you're very upset about it, and in fact, isn't this part of the -- this attacking the guy for taking a vacation -- is part of a carefully crafted attack on him starting with the Florida recount? Can't you get over the fact that George W. Bush is president?

PETER FENN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I'll talk about the Florida reach count with you, but actually the way I look at this is this is good news and bad news, Bob. The good news for the Democrats is that he's out of town and he is not causing as much trouble.

The bad news for the country is that he's disengaged. And that I think is what people are concerned about, is that you have a president here who sometimes appears to not know what's going on, to have his head in the clouds, and you know, he's down there trying to talk about the patients bill of rights, and he says, you know, the Ganske somebody or other, somebody or other, somebody or other, you are thinking, oh boy.

So I think the thing that concerns the American people is you've gone from a president who knows the facts, who is engaged, who was very effective as president, to someone who they have still real serious questions about.

BRAZILE: Let me ask you a question. Over 700,000 Americans have lost their jobs since President Bush took office in January. We now know that he is spending more than 42 of his time outside of Washington, D.C. I don't know if he's board or perhaps he's just homesick, but what if any plans do we have while in Texas, when Bill Clinton took time off he announced major initiatives, he met with people, he had town meetings, he went out there and really got in touch with the American people.

What, if anything, does this president plan to do during this long vacation period?

COMSTOCK: The president is meeting with people and actually having just come back from Texas myself where a lot of my in-laws are, and they are great people. People should get down and visit more often to visit -- it's not always on the east coast that we have to hang out with people on the East Coast in Martha's Vineyard or the Hamptons where all your buddies are.

But the president is doing a lot of initiatives and really, look at the record of accomplishment with -- the American people are getting what the president promised when he ran. They are getting their tax refunds in the mail. The president is working very hard to get this tax bill and get the economic program moving so that people can have jobs and stop the slow down that started before.

BRAZILE: When he started he said that people will have to get used to it. Will the Republican party get used to a president who is not on the job and will it hurt you 454 days from now when you try to retain control of the House?

COMSTOCK: Not at all because he is on the job. That is what is so clear. When he travels to places other than the East Coast he can still be on the job. He's going to be traveling to those states that Bob pointed out this week. And you look at something like the education bill, you compare this to the Clinton record. Bill Clinton had not even introduced his health care bill which turned out to be a colossal failure.

He had also given us the biggest tax increase at this point. President Bush, the education bill passed by a landslide in the House. And the only reason that Americans aren't going to go back to school without education bill is because Tom Daschle is holding it up. This is what you don't like. He's doing great.

FENN: President Clinton passed the Family and Medical Leave Act the first three months of his presidency. He passed three times as many pieces of legislation as George Bush. But the real point here is who is in control?

He doesn't have to be here because when it comes to energy policy you've got the oil and gas industry. When it comes to HMO reform, you've got the insurance companies and the HMOs who he listens to.

COMSTOCK: Jim Jeffords bill and the Breaux-Frist-Jeffords bill, your buddies...

NOVAK: Can I get back to the vacation?

(LAUGHTER)

FENN: We all want to go on vacation, I think.

NOVAK: I know, Peter, you don't understand a lot of things that go on around here, but I want to cite somebody who really knows what Bush is doing down there. Let's listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I'm headed home to the heart land to listen to the American people, and to talk about the values that unite and sustain our country. Members of Congress are going home as well. When we all come back in September, so many accomplishments are within our reach and I look forward the work ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOVAK: Now, if we can just suspend for just a second all the spin about all the good Democratic issues which I've heard a million times, tell me, Peter, what is wrong with the president going home and, as you know, the president of the United States can go anywhere in the world and he's still the president.

FENN: He is on that wonderful plane, Air Force One. No, I don't begrudge him a vacation or going home. But I think what you have is, you have, look, you had an article in "The New York Times" right before the election talking about his style as governor.

And it was rather scary to a lot of us because it talked about him coming in at 9:30, 10 o'clock, taking two, three hours for lunch and work outs. Coming back, having a few photo-ops and going home at 5 o'clock.

And that was during the legislative session, that wasn't in the off time. So I think the American people are a little concerned about a disengaged president. But my main concern about this is he's turning over the power of government to other people.

Gail Norton, let me just give you this one example. Gail Norton, who is over his left shoulder in that nice photo op that he had, she just spoke yesterday to the Oil And Gas Association in Colorado talking about energy policy.

NOVAK: What a shock, the secretary of the interior talking to the oil -- let me say...

FENN: They wrote the bill, why not talk to them?

NOVAK: One of my favorite presidents and I think he was a great president was Calvin Coolidge. He really was my kind of president and he slept 13 hours a day. Now, can somebody like you, who wants government to do more and more, think that there's a lot of us Americans out there who feel happy when the president is sleeping, when he's taking it easy, when he's not trying to make our lives better as Bill Clinton did every waking hour? Can you believe that? FENN: Listen, I hope he can sleep.

NOVAK: But can you understand that?

FENN: I can understand some of that but I think you want an activist president. You want a president who is engaged an inquisitive and knows the details.

NOVAK: Don't you know that there's a lot of us who don't want an activist president?

BRAZILE: Bob, the American people want a president on the job. The average American spends only 13 days on vacation each year. And yet this president...

NOVAK: They'd like to spend 30, though.

BRAZILE: Now we know he has more in common with Europeans than we knew. But is he making any calls, Barbara? Is he working with Speaker Hastert to move the appropriations process along when Congress resumes business next month?

I still want to know what he is doing. We see a lot of nice photo-ops and I am sure we will see a couple more photo-ops in the desert or wherever he is down in Texas.

FENN: Little league baseball, he's going to go to a little league game.

BRAZILE: Donna, you need to get down there and visit. It is great country down there. And that's why the president is going to be traveling around all of the heart land. He's in touch with everyone. He's a phone call away.

BRAZILE: Will he hold town meetings, will he hold forums?

COMSTOCK: He's going to be meeting with -- he's going to be making speeches to veterans, he's going to be out doing more meetings all around the country. But the thing is this president understands you need to get out and get outside the Beltway. And to talk with real people, not just the folks in Washington.

FENN: There aren't real people around here, of course.

NOVAK: You are right there, you are right there.

(LAUGHTER)

BRAZILE: New people come to Washington, D.C. every year as tourists. I'm sure that if you open the White House you will find some real people.

FENN: You were talking about Iraq and I thought the interesting story in the paper today was that he was out on the golf course, nice bright and early yesterday morning as the Iraqi engagement occurred.

And he didn't even get interrupted by it. Nobody called him and said geez.

COMSTOCK: Peter, for eight years all that went on, Bill Clinton played on the golf, we have all those lovely pictures of Vernon Jordan and Terry McAuliffe.

FENN: I like golf.

BRAZILE: Bill Clinton was working.

COMSTOCK: And so you can't be the president and not be on the job all the time. That's part of it.

FENN: I think Dick Cheney is back here pulling all the strings is what's happening.

BRAZILE: I think he's on vacation as well.

NOVAK: We are going to have to take a break. When we come back we will talk a little bit about whether there's a media bias against the wide open spaces they would rather be in the pleasure spots of the East Coast, but before we take that break let's take a look at the way some of our past presidents spent their vacations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRAZILE: Welcome back to CROSSFIRE. I am Donna Brazile sitting in for the rather short vacation of Bill Press tonight. We are discussing President Bush's decision to spend the month of August down in Texas. But Republican National Committee research director Barbara Comstock says the president is actually on a working vacation. And Democratic strategist Peter Fenn begs to differ -- Bob.

NOVAK: One thing let's say about President Bush as compared to Bill Clinton, is he doesn't use polls decide whether to go on vacation. You know it was widely reported that he was using poll taking to decide what would be the most effective place when he suddenly turned up in Wyoming on a vacation, stomping around Wyoming in his golf cart a few years ago.

Is that the kind of president you like, saying gee, honey, I want to go on vacation. What do the polls say that would be the most good?

FENN: I sort of like Wyoming myself, but I'm wouldn't think you would want to take polls. I am not going to defend Dick Morris on that one, Bob. But I do think it was interesting to see that article in "The New York Times" the day before he took off on vacation, where they said we are going to have to switch things. We need him to get closer to the people, we have some trouble here. We are not doing well among women, so we are going to some things over August to make him a lot more "personable."

NOVAK: One thing, I hate to ask this question, I really don't want to ask it, but you forced me into it by saying the president doesn't work hard. Isn't it true that when President Bush is in the Oval Office you know he's working? FENN: Oh. Is that nasty or what? He could be sleeping. They asked him today did you hear? That was a great line, the guy said are you taking any naps while you're down here Mr. President?

He said I'm not going to comment on that.

(CROSSTALK)

NOVAK: I would rather him be sleeping than doing what Clinton was doing.

BRAZILE: I think he is lifting weights and working on his shoulders. Making sure he's buffed.

COMSTOCK: If he's working on that and he's passing all this legislation, look at that the faith-based initiative that he got through there when he was out putting today the Habitat for Humanity.

(CROSSTALK)

FENN: Barbara, where you are right, is the rubber is going to hit the road on September. It is going to hit the road on spending bills. It us going to hit the road on spending bills, it is going to hit the road on this tax cut, which -- wait a minute...

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: Peter, let me ask, thank you, 18 days to pass 13 appropriations bills that must start in the House. Barbara, the president makes as you well know, $400,000 a year, the highest paid president in the history of this country. That is on average $1,098 a day, $46,153.84 so far that he has earned on this vacation time, less than seven months.

How do you intend to convince the American people that this president is up to the job and ready to reengage once he returns?

COMSTOCK: Well the president over the next two months they are going to be getting their refund checks. All tax payers in this country are getting refund checks. We have the education bill so that we can improve the education for the American people. The patients bill of rights tat he did. This was six years of gridlock on the patients bill of rights. Bill Clinton couldn't get it through. President Bush has forged a bipartisan compromise...

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: He couldn't even remember the sponsors today. He had to say Ganske and somebody and somebody.

COMSTOCK: Nobody who wants to have those things care about who is the sponsor, but they want to get it done and the president wants to sign it and he's going to do that because he's disciplined and focused and he gets his work done.

NOVAK: Peter, I want you to listen to another analysis that might help you understand what's going on. Let's listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: This is Texas. I know a lot of you wish you were in the East Coast, lounging on the beaches, sucking in the salt air but when you're from Texas and love Texas this is where you come home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOVAK: See, I want to explain something to you. I know the news media maybe a little better than you do, and they love Palm Beach, they love Martha's Vineyard. They love to be in the fancy places of the eastern elite rather than with the real people in Waco, Texas. You know that don't you?

FENN: Let me tell you, it's 110 degrees they're saying in Washington and New York and Martha's Vineyard and all these great places. It's probably a lot better down there in that dry, nice heat. You get a nice wind. Look, the fact of this though is, I think the important point here is that if you were absent 42 percent of the time from your job, if you were gone...

NOVAK: How do you know I am not?

(LAUGHTER)

FENN: But the average American, if they're gone two days out of 5 they don't hold their job too long, especially if they're paid that kind of money.

COMSTOCK: Today in the 21st century we all work -- often times I work at my computer in my home office. I don't have to be behind my desk. I judge people by what they accomplish. And look at what the president has accomplished.

FENN: We will too.

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: ... the definition of work. What is it we don't understand? Fishing out of a stocked pond?

NOVAK: I want to ask you something that -- something we can agree on. Isn't it refreshing as I said in the opening, to have a president of the United States, who has his own house, he paid for it, instead of -- weren't you a little disgusted by President Clinton mooching on the rich liberals? Whose house am I going stay at in this vacation? Not going to ordinary working people's vacation spots, but the very super rich.

FENN: If I made the kind of money he made selling the Texas Rangers, I'd own a big house in Texas, too. I'd like it but look. Here's a guy I have to say, Bill Clinton, who gave his entire life to public service, you know, worked in...

NOVAK: I could have done without it, though. (LAUGHTER)

FENN: We will see how it all turns out. I think he's got problems on substance.

BRAZILE: I want to go back to this issue on polls. I know the polls last year showed that the Republican Party had to change its image, so you guys came up with compassionate conservatism and now the new polls show that Bush may be out of touch with working families so we have homes to the Heartland, of course, Communities and Characters.

What are your polls saying now in terms of his message and how does he reach back -- or reach out to the American people and get them to understand what he's trying to do in Washington, D.C.? I know you're taking polls as well.

COMSTOCK: Well you look at all of the polls that the press is putting out and the president's numbers have been very high. You don't see the kind of erotic roller coaster that we had with Bill Clinton because this president is disciplined and focused. He is getting the work done that he came in here and said he was going to do.

During the election nobody said we would ever be able to pass a tax relief bill the size that we did.

BRAZILE: The like him personally but they disagree with his approach on education on Social Security.

COMSTOCK: No, 63 percent of Americans support the president's education bill, but it is sitting in Tom Daschle's in-box because he doesn't want to have the president have that success. They support the president personally. That's where they are. Ted Kennedy was working with him on the education bill.

FENN: They oppose him on the environment, they oppose him on the patients bill of rights. The have real questions about this tax cut. You spent $34 million sending out notices telling people they're going to get a tax cut and his numbers are stalled. And his job performance is in the mid...

(CROSSTALK)

FENN: Job performance is 55. No, I think the American people have got this guy, they have his number. The special interests are controlling this guy and not the people's interests.

NOVAK: Why is it that the president's job approval rating, how he's doing at his job is 59 percent, compared to 39 percent on Bill Clinton at the same time in his presidency? How do you explain that?

FENN: Bill Clinton got a haircut on the tarmac. I don't think that helped him very much. But in terms of accomplishments...

NOVAK: That is going to be your last word, and I hope you have a nice vacation, Peter. Thank you very much Peter Fenn. Thank you very much Barbara Comstock and Donna Brazile. And I will be back with more happy vacation talk on closing comments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOVAK: Donna, I always like to try to help the Democrats when they're doing things wrong and I think you could give them some good advice, and that is, don't attack a president of the United States for going home, for getting a little rest. That's mean spirited and small and I don't think the American people like that.

BRAZILE: Bob, look, the American people are the ones that are upset with this president spending so much time out of Washington, out of the Oval Office. They don't perceive him as on the job, ready for the job, engaged in doing his job. And I think they're quite upset with him.

NOVAK: See you can't understand this, but there's a lot of us who feel that when the president is relaxing when he's not working, when he's sleeping, whether he's Republican or Democrat that's a plus for the American people because we want to be left alone.

BRAZILE: I understand, Bob.

NOVAK: We don't want to be taken care of.

BRAZILE: But we have some pressing needs in this country right now and we need a president who is engaged and on the front lines helping the American people, especially working families.

NOVAK: That's a difference of opinion because I think the most pressing need we have is to get government off our backs. We are trying but it's hard.

BRAZILE: From the left I am Donna Brazile. Good night from CROSSFIRE.

NOVAK: From the right I am Robert Novak. Join us next time for another edition of CROSSFIRE.

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