Can Bush's Spinner Be a Pundit Winner?

By: Dave Astor Some writers, such as William Safire, moved from government jobs to columnist positions. Others, such as former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, switched from columnist to government and back to columnist. There's even been at least one White House press secretary, the Carter administration's Jody Powell, who became a columnist.

So it wouldn't be a shock if Tony Snow decides one day to resume the syndicated column he wrote before becoming White House press secretary this spring.

If Snow does become a pundit again, will his 160 newspaper and Web clients welcome him back? Let's look at the record, as Snow might say in one of his daily briefings.

When Snow agreed to succeed Scott McClellan, some eyebrows were raised because Snow had strongly criticized President Bush on occasion. For instance, the then-columnist/Fox News commentator slammed Bush for his prescription-drug benefit and for "wavering" in his conservatism. Snow also said the Republican Party is "packed with cowards."

But after becoming press secretary, Snow has totally toed the Bush and GOP line. Some would say Snow is being hypocritical. Others would say he's just doing his job.

In doing his job, Snow has been much more articulate and quick on his feet than McClellan was. But Snow's answers have been no more honest than those of his stonewalling predecessor.

For example, Snow on Tuesday called John Kerry's remarks about Iraq an "absolute insult" to American soldiers -- even though the press secretary knew full well that Kerry, a decorated war veteran, was in fact criticizing Bush.

Last week, Snow defended Dick Cheney after the vice president said giving terror suspects a "dunk" in the water would be a "no-brainer" if it elicited information. Many saw this as a clear reference to "waterboarding" by a man who's no fan of the Geneva Conventions, but Snow unconvincingly argued that Cheney "did not mean" to endorse waterboarding.

Also last week, Snow wrongly claimed that the term "stay the course" hadn't been uttered by Bush "in a while." Snow, it seemed, was going along with the administration's Orwellian distancing from the "stay-the-course" rhetoric that has marked its disastrous Iraq policy. (Snow eventually admitted that Bush had used the phrase about eight times. Fact-checkers later found about 30.)

And, after it was revealed that Republican Congressman Mark Foley had been making sexual overtures to young pages, Snow minimized this disgraceful behavior by calling Foley's messages "simply naughty e-mails."

The above four examples are from the past month alone. Feel free to Google earlier instances of Snow's spin and obfuscation.

So, what happens if Snow becomes a columnist again? Many of his past newspaper clients would be disgusted that Snow was the front man for an administration that often fudges the truth, right? Many papers would be disgusted that Snow may have fudged the truth himself, right?

Not likely.

A number of other people who launched or resumed columns after government stints were perceived as highly controversial. Hillary Rodham Clinton and the aforementioned Buchanan were but two examples. Also, many newspapers nowadays expect opinion columns to be clearly partisan -- meaning these papers aren't necessarily bothered if the writers twist or avoid the facts. So, many of Snow's clients would undoubtedly sign up for his column again.

Also, some dailies run conservative columnists (such as Ann Coulter, Robert Novak, and Bill O'Reilly) no matter what these commentators do or say. Other papers publish rightist pundits to avoid being accused of the mostly mythical "liberal media bias."

Then there's the fact that a post-press-secretary Snow will be even more of a "name" for those papers that love "name" writers. And papers might argue that Snow's tenure as press secretary gives him added insight into government that he can impart to readers.

But if Snow becomes a columnist again, his main insight into government might be insight into government spin.