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New White House Press Secretary Tony Snow has begun taking center media stage. And it seems as if the White House press room is going to have a new kind of press secretary for the 21st Century: one who is emerging as a multi-layered personality in his own right.

In declining to discuss the NSA’s alleged collection of domestic phone records, Snow had said he wouldn’t “hug the tar baby” of commenting on a program the White House won’t confirm or deny. Brazile wanted it known that several people called her to complain about that reference to an American folk story about a trap that’s impossible to get out of — which has also been used as a racial slur. Ryan has obligingly filed a story about it.”

The days of the press secretary as a robot-like human tape recorder or a sweaty, hapless human being oozing unease are over (for now, at least).

But therein lies a dilemma: he’s going to have to learn to choose his words quite carefully, because they are pitfalls and he seemingly stepped in one (in a tarpit, that is). Look at part of this from the Washington Times:

    Tony Snow cried while talking about surviving colon cancer, apologized for overpredicting the U.S. Senate’s ability to act, ignored some questions and bickered with other questioners, and seemed to dominate the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room yesterday in a way President Bush’s former press secretaries never did.

    Mr. Snow’s first on-camera briefing after taking over from Scott McClellan went off with a few hitches and a brand new attitude about handling the White House press.

    “I feel so loved,” Mr. Snow said as he took the podium for the first time, facing a standing-room-only crowd drawn by the surfeit of news and the novelty of a new spokesman for an administration that hasn’t seemed to value the daily give-and-take with reporters.

    He handled questions on wiretapping, immigration, Iran, tax cuts and himself, and ignored a question about Mr. Bush’s views on contraception.

    The most striking moment arose when a reporter asked him why he was wearing a yellow Lance Armstrong “Livestrong” bracelet.

    Mr. Snow began to choke back tears on live television as he explained that his mother died of cancer when he was 17, that he had surgery for colon cancer last year, and he marveled that cancer research has advanced so far that a doctor was able to give him a clean bill of health to take his new job.

    The press secretary did call Mr. Armstrong, the cyclist and cancer survivor, “Lance Anderson,” though he corrected himself later.

In short (and this is NOT said in a negative way) Snow seems to be the perfect Press Secretary for the Oprah/American Idol age. Previous press secretaries have seemed stuck in a time tunnel, creatures responding as if they were addressing a news media where Walter Cronkite still did the Evening News. Most recent press secretaries have seemed like machines; Snow comes across as a flesh-and-blood human being..and that should make viewers more receptive to at least listening to him.

Snow reflects the present media as impacted by tabloids and talk radio. And I-feel-your-pain TV talk shows. MORE:

    Among other acknowledged gaffes, he said he “overstepped” himself in guaranteeing that the Senate would pass an immigration bill this year. When a reporter asked about the assurance, Mr. Snow said he had goofed.

    “OK, you know what, I was being presumptuous here,” he said.

A little humility can go a long way (with the press, that is). Meanwhile, the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank agrees with TMV’s assessment (we read his post AFTER we wrote all of the above):

    It began as the Tony Snow show. It turned out more like “Oprah.”…

    …It was the pinnacle of a boffo debut by Snow. Reporters leaving the 40-minute session would discover that, like his predecessors, Snow had imparted no useful information to them. But he had done it in a far more entertaining manner. Of the National Security Agency’s telephone espionage program, he risked some loaded language: “I don’t want to hug the tar baby.”
And, indeed, he has already raised eyebrows for his choice of words. (It probably won’t morph into a huge controversy but if there are too many of these it could become a story).

The New York Times (which also notes potential controversy of the tar baby comment) noted a big change ushered in by The Era Of Snow:

    It [the tar baby comment] was a minor snag in an otherwise smooth, polished performance, but it was nevertheless a reminder of just how sticky the job of White House press secretary can be. It’s a tripwire assignment even in good times. And Mr. Snow, a former Fox News anchor who was tapped to replace a testy and tapped out Scott McClellan, assumes the post at a time when the president’s approval ratings are a personal worst; only Jimmy Carter and Richard M. Nixon were judged as poorly.

    Any press secretary taking over the podium for the first time comes off as a substitute teacher trying to take control of a restless high school class. With the president’s standing in opinion polls this low, Mr. Snow was more like a stepfather meeting his wife’s children for the first time.

    Reporters were polite, but not particularly gentle. Mr. Snow handled pointed questions about the immigration bill and the government’s phone surveillance program with assurance, even when he had uninformative answers.

    Mr. Snow, who wore a gray pinstriped suit, red tie and American flag lapel pin, has an anchorman’s good looks and poise…His predecessor, Mr. McClellan, was less prepossessing on camera and, particularly toward the end of his tenure, developed a testy, defensive manner. Mr. Snow tried to be deferential to the White House press corps, and even admitted mistakes.

So Snow is off to a good stylistic start — in the sense that he has “stage presence” which should effectively help boost his boss’ case. But how much can it boost it? In the end, all press secretaries are spin doctors. Yet, if you look at his job as one that could do damage if not handled correctly, Bush’s appointment of Snow to the job probably means that if Bush is to continue to bleed politically, he may bleed a mite less under Snow.

But right now it’s still the honeymoon period.

There may come a time when Tony Show becomes Tony Shmo.

 

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