It wasn't Clintonesque whopper, but when George W. Bush declared last week that spokesman David Beckwith hadn't been fired -- well, it wasn't the truth either. On July 12, Bush campaign manager Joe Allbaugh and press secretary Karen Hughes informed Beckwith he should clear out of Bush headquarters by the end of the day. They offered him no alternative, no other job in the campaign he might take.
Why the bum's rush? They told Beckwith he'd put out misinformation, cooperated on a U.S. News story that suggested Bush is thick-headed ("Is It Wrong to Call Him George Dumbya Bush?"), mocked the Iowa GOP straw poll on August 14, and generally been "off-message." These charges, basically trivial or untrue, weren't the real reason. Beckwith was canned chiefly because he has a friendly relationship with political reporters in Washington. He was a longtime correspondent in D.C. for Time, then served as Vice President Dan Quayle's press secretary.
Normally, such experience might be regarded as an asset. Having a press spokesman who is taken seriously by reporters, and not automatically dismissed as a spinner, can come in handy in politics. But not at Bush campaign headquarters, where paranoia about Beltway mores and sinister national (as opposed to Texas) reporters runs rampant. Some Bush aides talk boastfully about their refusal to play "Washington games." Which is fine, except there's no way around dealing with Washington reporters. And Beckwith did that better than anyone else at the Bush campaign.
Hughes had never wanted Beckwith to be hired in the first place. She is part of Bush's "iron triangle" along with Allbaugh and chief strategist Karl Rove, and she had ruled the Bush press operation, keeping a tight hold on what information is put out. She's been known to complain that Rove himself talks too much to reporters. But Rove, who had worked with Beckwith on the successful -- and tough -- 1993 Senate primary campaign of Kay Bailey Hutchison, insisted that he be brought on board.
Beckwith came on in a subordinate position to Hughes, and always deferred to her in explaining his role to reporters. But Hughes was unhappy with him and last week got her way.
Beckwith's loyalty to Bush was never in doubt. He'd quit his job at EDS in Washington, arranged for his two daughters to attend schools in Texas this fall, packed up his family, and moved to Austin earlier this summer. Nonetheless, Bush operatives trashed him on background after he departed. Oh, yes. There's one Bush campaign person who at least pretends to be chummier with Washington reporters then even Beckwith. That's Bush himself. But you can't fire him.