With Congress scattered far and wide and the initiative his for the taking, President Bush will hold a news conference at 10:00 am today, his first since January 26. Sandwiched as it is between two big scheduled speeches on Iraq this week, it's possible that this news conference will be an effort to address matters of domestic rather than security policy, such as the strong US economy, a story the White House continues to have trouble telling, or the troubled Medicare prescription-drug benefit that congressional Democrats are targeting with town halls during the break.
After the news conference, Bush will meet at the White House with newly elected President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia at 11:10 am, and with representatives of Iraq and Afghanistan non-governmental organizations in the Roosevelt Room at 1:55 pm. Vice President Cheney, meanwhile, travels to Scott AFB in downstate Illinois for a briefing by TRANSCOM (i.e., Transportation Command) Commander Gen. Norton Schwarz at 11:20 am ET, followed by a speech on Iraq and the war on terror at 12:35 pm ET. Per the Almanac of American Politics, Scott AFB is the largest employer in southern Illinois.
"... a story the White House continues to have trouble telling ..."
Really! I guess NBC doesn't know IT'S THE MEDIA WHO WON'T TELL THE STORY CORRECTLY not the WH.
The economy is roaring - and the job market is the best it's been in over 5 years - but that info is NOWHERE in the old media's playbook.