BUSH: IT'S ALL ABOUT MARKETING AND P.R.

WaPo has an article in the Sunday edition summarizing a recent interview with Bush on Air Force One.

There are so many clues to Bush's thinking patterns included in the interview, but here's just a peek at a couple:

Bush acknowledged that "some of the decisions I've made up to now have affected our standing in parts of the world," but predicted that most Muslims will eventually see America as a beacon of freedom and democracy.

"There's no question we've got to continue to do a better job of explaining what America is all about," he said.
...
On the election Bush said he was puzzled that he received only about 11 percent of the black vote, according to exit polls, about a 2 percentage point increase over his 2000 total.

"I did my best to reach out, and I will continue to do so as the president," Bush said. "It's important for people to know that I'm the president of everybody."

In other words, he doesn't care to actually DO anything substantive or corrective to change negative perceptions; in his mind, it can all be accomplished with the right market conditioning, a skillful message, and an efficient delivery system. I've said it before: the only thing George W. Bush ever succeeded at is politics. Unfortunately, he's very, very good at that -- he understands marketing and public relations principles very well. Too bad he doesn't understand or care about geopolitical strategy, domestic issues, and the Constitution equally.

UPDATE: Forgot to include this little gem from the top of the story:

President Bush said the public's decision to reelect him was a ratification of his approach toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath.

"We had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 elections," Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post.

So, another "Bush Doctrine" -- If the voters let you get away with it at the polls, no accountability is required for individual actions. What a sweetheart.