"Reagan was able to get his points across, and the MSM wasn't exactly in his pocket. If Bush keeps hammering it, he'll make it past the MSM. And he has a cadre of supporters throughout the country ready and willing to help him spread the word. The problem is, he won't even try. And when he keeps letting his supporters twist in the wind, eventually they get tired of it."
So, in the middle of a war, the President is supposed to drop everything until everyone understands what he has to say.
I agree that the media was no friend of Reagan's, but I have seen them get much worse about refusing to cover the President. President Bush can talk all day everyday and we would be lucky to hear 1% of what he says. An that 1% will be presented the way the media wants to present it.
This whole issue came about because the media wanted to present this as a security issue, claiming that the UAE company was going to be taking over security at 6 of our most important ports, which is not even close to the truth.
He doesn't have to "drop everything". He's has plenty of time budgeted for making his case about various things. He just has to make some use of it. Instead of just talking about whitebread fluff in his weekly radio addresses, he could try saying something substantive that would actually add to the discussion. He chooses not to. That makes him a largely ineffective leader.