Snow flurries

One of the perils of hiring a prolific commentator to be White House Press Secretary is that they have probably said some unflattering things about their new boss. Tony Snow definitely has and Think Progress is making sure that everyone knows it.

Bush felt obliged to try and defuse the situation with a little humor at Snow’s unveiling: "For those of you who have read his columns and listened to his radio show, he sometimes has disagreed with me. I asked him about those comments, and he said, 'You should have heard what I said about the other guy.’"

But I tend to agree with the rapidly emerging Washington CW that these criticisms actually help Bush. Why? Because they show that Bush is getting out of his bubble and listening to people who didn’t grow up in Texas. It is noticeable quite how much the new Chief of Staff Josh Bolten is clipping the wings of the Texas mafia. Not only is Scott McClellan gone but Harriet Miers is now being eased towards the door rather than a seat on the Supreme Court.

An intriguing subplot here is Bolten’s own background. The man is a St. Albans, Princeton, Stanford Law, and Goldman Sachs alum. According to Time, he likes hiring people with resumes like his. Indeed, as anyone who has been to school in the last decade or so knows Goldman is the most prestigious graduate recruiter. The people they hire are, to sound like the president, succeeders who like to surround themselves with equally bright and ambitious souls. (They’re not the kind of people to believe in Buggins’ turn). So, expect any fresh faces to look more like John Roberts than Harriet Miers.