If President Bush had starred in a television sitcom, would the program have been canceled by now? His recent performances in town hall meetings with average Americans show all the signs of a tired show: formulaic scripts, weak jokes and a waning audience.
Television critics call it “jumping the shark,” the tipping point when a popular show begins to lose its moment. It’s an allusion to the episode of the ABC hit “Happy Days” when one of the central characters, Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumped over a shark while water skiing — a moment so ridiculous that it was immediately seen as the beginning of the end for the long-running series.
It usually takes a while to pinpoint the downfall of a sitcom, and if the Bush presidency falls apart, historians will argue about exactly when it started. But one possible jump-the-shark moment for this president came in his awkward and incomplete response this month to Harry Taylor, a soft-spoken, 61-year-old real estate broker who cited a litany of complaints about Bush — from his warrantless eavesdropping to his opposing abortion rights — during a meeting in Charlotte, N.C.
“I’m not your favorite guy,” the president said in a play for laughs to diffuse the tension Taylor’s criticism aroused. But the man summed up his concerns in a powerful statement that seemed to leave Bush stunned. “I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened, by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency,” Taylor said. “And I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself.”
Some in the audience booed, but Taylor became an overnight sensation for Bush foes around the country, seeming to attract more coverage than the president did. The Web site of the liberal magazine The Nation described Taylor’s statements as a “cry from the heart.”
What a missed opportunity for the president. Give him credit for finally opening up his town halls to all comers by abandoning the safety of hand-picked sycophants. But Taylor seemed to present something Bush was not prepared to handle — wide-ranging but respectful criticism that invited a heartfelt and revealing response.
Instead, Bush reverted to his talking points on only one aspect of Taylor’s comments, defending his decision to authorize domestic surveillance without a court order. Once again, he played anti- terrorist in chief, the only role that seems to give the president any comfort. Then he quickly moved on to another question.
The moment was so telling because it symbolized just how fully the president has lost his connection with many Americans. It began to slip away early in his presidency, when animosity from the tumultuous 2000 election lingered and a weak economy helped pull his job approval down to the 50 percent range.
Everything changed on Sept. 11, 2001, when the terrorists gave Bush a new role that transcended all others. Two wars later, with Iraq in turmoil and the public losing faith in his competence, the anti-terrorist role alone is not enough to command the confidence of most Americans.
This appears to have been an inexorable path. Look at any graph of Bush’s approval ratings and you see a steady — almost uninterrupted — line angling downward, from 90 percent right after the al Qaeda attacks to below 40 percent today.
Bush has never hardened his appeal beyond the reflexive support any president would get in wartime. And as his handling of war grows more and more unpopular, he has nothing else to offer. The result is a failed agenda on Capitol Hill and fewer friends and supporters in his own party.
Taylor offered the president a chance to look within himself and present something entirely new and different, an opening to show concerned Americans a genuine and personal side, and perhaps a bit of endearing humility that might get him back on track. Instead, Bush cracked a lame joke, recited oft-repeated lines and ultimately dodged the question. He did it again at another town hall last week, when a first-year student at Johns Hopkins University asked for his views on whether private contractors in Iraq must abide by the same laws the Pentagon must follow in the treatment of prisoners.
Either unable or unwilling to respond, Bush joked around, saying he would call Defense Secretary
There was plenty of nervous laughter, and some guffaws from the student audience, but watching the episode one cannot shake the feeling that this show is finished. Now in its sixth season, the Bush presidency next year and the year after might well come across like a TV program that producers should have taken off the air before the audience moved on.
Contributing Editor Craig Crawford is a news analyst for MSNBC, CNBC and “The Early Show” on CBS. He can be reached at ccrawford@cq.com.