President Bush's Image Repair Effort on Meet the Press: The Complexities of Defeasibility

Abstract

The candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 were united in attacking President George W. Bush. Their continued criticism, combined with news stories about such topics as the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and job losses in the United States, steadily eroded the president's image. On February 8, 2004, President Bush appeared on Meet the Press to repair his reputation, exemplifying the problem of how an incumbent president can reply to such attacks while in the midst of a campaign for re-election. This essay applies the theory of image repair to this discourse to critically analyze and evaluate Bush's attempt to repair his image. Bush responded to two key accusations: justification for the war in Iraq and concerns about the economy (including jobs and the deficit). He tried to frame himself as a “war president” (transcendence) who should be evaluated on those grounds but failed to make this the most important problem for most voters. He employed denial, but the support for denials was often weak. He also relied heavily on defeasibility. However, Bush's use of the strategy of defeasibility raises doubts about whether he will be able to solve problems in a second term. Thus, President Bush's image repair effort was largely ineffectual.

Keywords:

• President George W. Bush
• Iraq
• Economy
• Meet the Press
• National Guard
• Leadership Style
• Image Repair Discourse

This research was supported by a Summer Research Fellowship from the University of Missouri Research Council.

This research was supported by a Summer Research Fellowship from the University of Missouri Research Council.

Notes

This research was supported by a Summer Research Fellowship from the University of Missouri Research Council.

1. All television spot texts are from http://www.nationaljournal.com; see also the Stanford Political Communication Lab site http://pcl.stanford.edu/campaigns/campaign2004/primary.html

2. All debate texts are from Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe. Arizona (10/9/03):

http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m = 8b5e5ca52ca1768b441a1b0e8b456459&_docnum = 3&wchp = dglbvzb-zskvb&_md5 = 621a9288c861f92bf240d93e61091bec

Illinois (8/5/03): http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m = 95fb58c976986f261599a08f84292b01&_docnum = 5&wchp = dglbvtz-zskvb&_md5 = f8476c7b9164ce5da5aa95c0a79146e6

Iowa (5/17/03): http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m = a5de7aee48dad9ba6b1747056d1127c7&_docnum = 9&wchp = dglbvzb-zskvb&_md5 = dcc627b39a5c50be284942c770ff178d

Iowa (1/11/04): http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m = 5dc12707f08ce4f1980d8e2cd90b140b&_docnum = 2&wchp = dglbvzb-zskvb&_md5 = b60b4fa3194018e0e3ed198cfc7a3a36

Maryland (9/9/03): http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m = 6147baf77e0206d6bbfc232bbd6f8af3&_docnum = 11&wchp = dglbvzb-zskvb&_md5 = fd3471a970fc6377ffad64d6f3e8cb5a

Michigan (10/26/03): http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m = 38781d16ae75653f1887f5f52b1f9eab&_docnum = 2&wchp = dglbvzb-zskvb&_md5 = b7458f73d785012184f54e157fa8d642

New Hampshire (12/9/03): http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m = 3734b36e3d45457669fdf12435b249d8&_docnum = 3&wchp = dglbvzb-zskvb&_md5 = 2fdf88383737fe8e8a00cdc854aa0265

New Mexico (9/4/03): http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m = 7eb359185fcb6545f7adf886111501a2&_docnum = 41&wchp = dglbvzb-zskvb&_md5 = 9766a8048f9960ed92d301d6d33e9d36

New York (9/25/03): http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m = 56132ccd4f7d585ad074b776eaeca6c5&_docnum = 2&wchp = dglbvzb-zskvb&_md5 = 763eabf3662c033c5f6558d86e1ddc8c

South Carolina (5/3/03): http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m = 828e07f999fba7c4c169cf610ed041ca&_docnum = 1&wchp = dglbvtz-zskvb&_md5 = 9163dec104a609f9cefedc24903a4cec

South Carolina (1/29/04): http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m = 827d1f479d94c92fc834f8566172a145&_docnum = 5&wchp = dglbvzb-zskvb&_md5 = 4a26e770fe914c2cd5d7a2804da622ed

3. All public opinion poll data are from Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe (reference: Polls & Surveys).

4. All quotations from George W. Bush and Tim Russert on Meet the Press are from Fischer (2004).

5. I now prefer image repair to image restoration. Although the goal of such discourse is to restore an image completely (to the condition before attacks or accusations arose), it is probably more reasonable to expect discourse to repair (or partially ameliorate) than to restore an image. The phrase “image restoration” may have inadvertently established unreasonably high expectations for the outcome of an attempt to improve a tarnished image.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

William L. Benoit

William L. Benoit, a Professor of Communication at the University of Missouri, was a University Fellow at Hong Kong Baptist University in winter 2006