INTRODUCING THE NEW FALL LINE :

Bush Aides Set Strategy to Sell Policy on Iraq (ELISABETH BUMILLER, September 7, 2002, NY Times)

White House officials said today that the administration was following a meticulously planned strategy to persuade the public, the Congress and the allies of the need to confront the threat from Saddam Hussein.

The rollout of the strategy this week, they said, was planned long before President Bush's vacation in Texas last month. It was not hastily concocted, they insisted, after some prominent Republicans began to raise doubts about moving against Mr. Hussein and administration officials made contradictory statements about the need for weapons inspectors in Iraq.

The White House decided, they said, that even with the appearance of disarray it was still more advantageous to wait until after Labor Day to kick off their plan.

"From a marketing point of view," said Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff who is coordinating the effort, "you don't introduce new products in August."

Once again we see the efficacy of analyzing the Bush Administration as if it were a business concern, rather than merely a political operation. it is possible to disapprove of the corporate model they're following, but by failing to recognize it journalists are serving us poorly. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 7, 2002 7:49 AM