With War Losing Support, Rumsfeld Stages a Retreat :OLLIE OLLIE OX IN FREE

[ElsewheresDaughter]

Is he busy or deemed a liability? Iraq policy and media analysts attributed Rumsfeld's lower domestic profile to a broader strategy by the Bush administration to shift the focus away from Iraq. So far, they say, it is working

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0805-01.htm

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, once so popular as an administration spokesman for the Iraq war that President Bush dubbed him a "matinee idol," has reduced his public profile, trimming appearances as the war has turned from a positive for the Bush campaign into a potential liability.

Critics, particularly on the left, have delighted in the shrinking Rumsfeld role.

Now, supporters have weighed in as well, but not with delight. "He's our rock star," one senior administration official said Wednesday on condition of anonymity. "He should be out there."

The man who gave daily progress reports at the Pentagon in the heat of the war has appeared only twice at Pentagon briefings since May.

And the White House, which coordinates which administration officials appear on the networks' news-making Sunday talk shows, has not lined up a Rumsfeld interview for months, although a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied that the White House did not want Rumsfeld speaking out.

The wisecracking defense chief has not disappeared entirely — he still draws throngs for speeches and handshakes from tourists when he appears on Capitol Hill. Since May, he has appeared 13 times before groups of reporters and twice before Congress, as well as giving other television and radio interviews, a Pentagon tally shows.

Among 19 television and radio interviews Rumsfeld has done since May, many have been with local media or with supportive satellite and cable networks, which often give more favorable coverage than other national media.



"He's not a rock star anymore," a senior Republican aide on Capitol Hill said on condition of anonymity.
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