Bush Couldn't Fill The Room For Last Presser

Although I found many of George Bush's statements amusing yesterday, not enough of the Washington press corp could even bother to attend. Even though the room is relatively nice and new, most journalists who cover Bush know they won't get much out of the President's scripted sessions. Despite it being the last presser for #43, it was the job of interns to make the room appear to be more popular than it was.

From ThinkProgress:

When the White House announced President Bush’s final press conference yesterday, it sent a bulletin to reporters declaring “one correspondent per organization” and “standing room only for non-seat holders.” But as the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank points out, not enough reporters attended for the presser to make it “standing room only”:

Further complicating his last-minute legacy rehabilitation: Nobody seems to be paying attention. The White House had high expectations for yesterday’s final, historic news conference. “ONE CORRESPONDENT PER ORGANIZATION,” proclaimed the bulletin sent to reporters. “STANDING ROOM ONLY FOR NON-SEAT HOLDERS.” But when the appointed hour of 9:15 a.m. arrived, the last two rows in the seven-row briefing room were empty, and a press aide told White House interns to fill those seats.

Of course, everyone now is focusing on what President Obama is going to do, not the irrelevant couch warmer that is merely trying to build a fictitious legacy for the history books. The White House may have had high expectations for yesterday's main event over there, but like everything else concerning expectations and President Bush, it fell well short.