Question: You told us last week that Rumsfield would stay on for the rest of your presidency.
Pres. Bush: I didn't want to inject a major policy decision like this in the middle of an election. I gave you that answer to move you onto your next question. I also had not finished talking with Gates.
Wanna take bets on how many "bush lied" headlines/stories that answer generates? NOT a smart answer, IMO.
What it sounds like is Rumsfeld said he was going to resign if the Democrats won so Bush had better have a replacement if necessary.
Pres. Bush: I didn't want to inject a major policy decision like this in the middle of an election. I gave you that answer to move you onto your next question. I also had not finished talking with Gates.
Not acceptable. Duck the question or change the subject rather than flat-out lie.
No future "votes of confidence" in Administration officials by this President will have any credibility.
No, Bush knew that firing Rumsfeld before the election would anger the base, so he held off. However, I don't think the final decision was made until last night, when they saw the magnitude of the losses. They are just doing damage control, bring in some one new, gain some time, take away a mayor talking point away from the opposition.