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Fox news radio host chosen as whitehouse spokesman Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aPB0cCQxiemQ&refer=ushttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aPB0cCQxiemQ&refer=us
Bush Picks Fox News's Snow as White House Spokesman (Update1)
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush picked Tony Snow, a Fox News radio host and former presidential speechwriter, as the White House press secretary, replacing Scott McClellan.
``He's not afraid to express his own opinions,'' Bush said, appearing with Snow and McClellan in the White House briefing room. ``I like the perspective he brings to this job, and I think you're going to like it, too.''
The hiring of a third spokesman in six years is part of an effort by Bush's new Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten to reconfigure the White House team amid job approval ratings for the president that are at or near record lows. McClellan, who held the job for almost three years, announced his resignation last week.
Snow, 50, prefaced his remarks by saying that one of the reasons he's taking the job is that ``I believe in the president.''
``These are going to be times that are very challenging,'' he said. ``We've got a lot of big issues ahead and we've got a lot of important things that all of us are going to be covering together.''
Snow didn't take any questions after the announcement.
Snow has been the host of Fox News Channel's ``Weekend Live With Tony Snow'' on Saturday and a daily radio show for Fox News Radio. Before joining Fox in 1996, Snow worked as a syndicated columnist for the Detroit News and a columnist for USA Today.
Former Speechwriter
He served as a speechwriter and deputy assistant for media affairs for President George H.W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 after a career in newspapers, according to his biography on the Fox News Web site.
Snow would bring credibility to the White House post and is comfortable in front of the cameras, Joe Lockhart, who served as press secretary to President Bill Clinton, said yesterday, before the announcement was made.
``Tony is very bright, personable and has a good sense of humor, and that's a lot of what you need to be successful in the job,'' Lockhart said. ``The real issue for him is, will the president and the White House let him do his job? There needs to be a fundamental shift in thinking in the White House on the role of the press, not just another new face.''
Opinions
On his radio show, Snow has voiced strong opinions on a range of topics in a tone that contrasts with the measured approach traditionally taken by White House press secretaries. He also has occasionally criticized Bush.
The Web site for his show provides recordings of his broadcasts, including one in which he summarizes Bush's January State of the Union address as marked by ``brilliant foreign policy and listless domestic policy.''
He described Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as ``Iran's Nutjob-in-chief'' and Pennsylvania Democratic Representative John Murtha, who has advocating pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, as a leader of ``the cut and run crowd.''
His show has also featured U.S. military leaders critical of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's job performance.
Bush noted Snow's past criticisms. ``For those of you who have read his columns and listened to his radio show, he sometimes has disagreed with me,'' Bush said. ``I asked him about those comments, and he said, `You should have heard what I said about the other guy.'''
Lockhart said he expected the news media would highlight the more controversial comments Snow has made on the air at Fox. That may actually work to the administration's benefit if Republican voters conclude ``liberal reporters are attacking the press secretary,'' he said.
Snow's appointment is likely to be popular with the core of the president's supporters and may ``charge them up'' for the November congressional elections, Lockhart said.
Last Updated: April 26, 2006 10:40 EDT
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