Bush Forced Into 'Diminished Role' in Economic Crisis
Bush Economic Outlook Turns Dour
Bush Calls German Chancellor
His low profile during the crisis was likely dictated by his lame-duck status and low poll ratings.
What the president says has historically been able to affect the market, but the White House "recognizes his public value is probably limited. ... So I'm not surprised he's not out there every 20 minutes," Clarke said.
Privately, Bush has given "Paulson a lot of running room and a lot of free rein," which was a smart thing to do, Clarke said.
And the White House issued a statement Wednesday that Bush was working the phones with foreign leaders in an effort to contain the spreading crisis.
"President Bush called German Chancellor [Angela] Merkel this afternoon to discuss the various measures that the United States is taking to bring stability to the markets, as well as the importance for all countries to work together to coordinate our actions to address problems facing the global economy," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
Clarke, who was a spokeswoman at the Pentagon in the Bush administration, said she would have done things differently if she were advising the White House.
"Public officials, especially in difficult times, should be very visible and very transparent about what they're doing," she said. "Sort of the 21st century version of Roosevelt's fireside chats."
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