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Forgotten But Not Gone, President Gets To Be Himself

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MARSHA MERCER Media General News Service

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 22, 2008

As gigs go in this troubled economy, it's not so bad being a profoundly unpopular lame-duck president.

As President Bush demonstrates, it's liberating to lack influence.

Stuck with rock-bottom job approval ratings, the president can say and do whatever he wants these days, and few people get exercised. Why bother? He says he still has a lot he wants to accomplish, but his plans are unlikely to amount to much.

Here and abroad, people are focusing on the next president. Bush is free to be himself without worrying about the next election, although he does want to help elect John McCain.

When the president, a former oil man, called Wednesday for offshore oil drilling, Democratic leaders in Congress instantly declared the idea dead. If he were serious about energy policy, Democrats said, Bush would have pushed for the change when Republicans controlled Congress. Plus, they said, he could roll back his father's ban on offshore drilling.

Instead, by waiting until McCain had brought the issue into the campaign, Bush was underscoring the idea that he and McCain are more alike than different.

The president and first lady's farewell tour of the capitals of Europe was a nice summer vacation - tea with the Queen of England, dinners with heads of state, even half an hour of presidential quality time with the pope. Pope Benedict XVI gave Bush a rare tour of the Vatican gardens where the pope says his evening prayers.

In April, the president invited

13, 500 people to celebrate the pope's 81st birthday on the South Lawn of the White House, complete with 21-gun salute and Kathleen Battle singing "The Lord's Prayer" and "Happy Birthday." President and pope prayed in the Oval Office, the White House reported.

Some Italian news organizations are speculating that the born-again Bush may be ready to convert to Catholicism as his brother Jeb did years ago.

In this country, even an unpopular president is still the president. The White House orchestrates events so that Bush rarely sees protesters or unfriendlies.

Take Tuesday's program celebrating of Black Music Month. Rapper Kanye West was not in the house - but Jesus was. West, you may recall, said during a telethon for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, "George Bush doesn't care about black people!"

The East Room rocked with black gospel singers who filled the space with inspirational music and commented that "Jesus is in the house!" The performers seemed genuinely to like the president and he them and their music. He nodded, clapped, swayed, tapped his feet and sometimes sang along.

To be sure, there's something about the majestic East Room with its full-length standing portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, the one Dolly Madison saved from the British in 1814, that's awe-inspiring. People tend to be on their best behavior anyway.

But it was the enthusiastic expression of Christian faith that seemed to cement the bond among president, performers and the audience. The line between church and state was nowhere to be found.

In his remarks, Bush said, "The gospel music tradition was born from great pain. Slaves sang spirituals to communicate with one another in the fields, and songs of faith helped black Americans endure the injustice of segregation."

And, he said, gospel "is making the Good News sound sweeter than ever."

The singers love-bombed him, starting with Spensha Baker, a rising gospel star who is just 15 years old.

Baker, with poise far beyond her years, looked into the president's eyes and said she was honored to be able to sing "Hold On" from her debut album because "the reason the country's such a strong country is because you hung on."

And, she said, "You're exactly right. Gospel is our strength."

"We're having church this afternoon," Edwin Hawkins of the Hawkins Singers said, as he launched into a song to God that included the line, "Some folks see my faults but you see my accomplishments."

At the end, Edwin Hawkins and his brother Walter invited all the performers onstage to sing their 1969 gospel hit that became a hit on the pop charts, "Oh Happy Day." The president clapped and sang along about the day that Jesus washed his sins away.

"It is indeed a happy day," he told the throng.

Comment at mgwashington.com or e-mail mmercer@mediageneral.com.

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