White House tries to make messages louder, clearer

0 Comments | USA TODAY, December, 2005 | by David Jackson

WASHINGTON -- Given President Bush's political troubles, some White House officials may feel a little like the prison guard in Cool Hand Luke: "What we've got here is failure to communicate."

Amid worries that messages about Iraq and the economy aren't getting through, as well as a weeklong congressional battering over the USA Patriot Act and domestic spying, the administration is re-working the way it talks about these subjects.

The changes include longer and more frequent speeches by the president, more statistics to back up his assertions, a more aggressive push against critics, admission of problems with Iraq and other policies, and acknowledgment by Bush and others that public communication needs to improve.

"I need to remind people about the stakes (in...