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Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Q-and-A confusion

By Ken Herman | Wednesday, November 7, 2007, 05:58 PM

sarkozy.jpg

The French, they do things a bit differently.

As is the U.S. custom, President Bush called on a wire service reporter for the first question at his Mount Vernon news conference today with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

And then is was Sarkozy’s turn to pick a reporter for a question. The French, as noted above, they do things a bit differently.

Bush: You want to call on somebody?

Sarkozy (through translator): In France, I don’t choose. I don’t pick the journalists.

Bush (bewildered, without a translator): You don’t get to choose? Who chooses? I choose? (Laughter) Who would you like me to choose? (More laughter) Oh, he chose. Wait a minute, didn’t last very long, did it?

Sarkozy (through translator) I didn’t choose. I indicated a general direction.

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All in the family

By Ken Herman | Wednesday, November 7, 2007, 09:21 AM

John Hager is the chairman of the Virginia Republican Party, which had a bad day on Tuesday and lost control of the state Senate.

John Hager also is the father of Henry Hager, who is engaged to Jenna Bush, who is the daughter of President Bush.

Which makes it interesting when Hager kind of blames the president for the Election Day problems of the Virginia GOP. Here’s what Hager told reporters in a conference call:

“We had strong forces against us up in Northern Virginia, especially with everything that’s happening in Washington with the support ratings of the president and the war in Iraq.”

Told of the comment and asked if Bush still sees himself as a “strong asset” for GOP candidates (as he proclaimed in September), White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said today that Bush has said “he will campaign for Republicans vigorously or he will campaign against them vigorously if he thinks that will help Republicans win next year.”

Bush is in Texas tomorrow as headliner at Houston and San Antonio fundraising events for GOP Sen. John Cornyn.

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