Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 - One trademark of President Bush's first term was his aversion to news conferences, which his staff says he often treated like trips to the dentist. So on the morning after Mr. Bush's re-election, Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director, was taken aback when the president told him he was ready to hold a news conference that Mr. Bartlett had suggested, win or lose, the week before. "I didn't have to convince him or anything," Mr. Bartlett said. "Without me prompting him, he brought it up." It was a small but telling change for a president...