Snow to help Bush repair "frayed" press relationship

AP reporter Jennifer Loven gets right at the heart of Tony Snow's appointment as White House press secretary when she describes his hiring as a "facelift" for the administration.

The appointment of Fox News pundit Tony Snow as Bush's third chief spokesman was intended in part to help improve the White House's frayed relationship with the press corps. Bush paired the announcement of his choice with some friendly jabs at reporters, and a serving of respect for their craft.

"Tony already knows most of you, and he's agreed to take the job anyway," the president said, Snow laughing at his side in the briefing room where he will start holding court in about two weeks. "He understands like I understand that the press is vital to our democracy."

Snow, a 50-year-old Ohio native, plans to take over from current press secretary Scott McClellan the week of May 8. He will hold off conducting the daily press briefings for several days while the two overlap.

The choice of Snow was also part of a White House effort — under the leadership of new chief of staff Joshua Bolten and with Bush at his lowest-ever approval ratings — to reach out to conservatives who made up the base of support for Bush's two presidential victories but have been disaffected by government spending and other issues.

Under the best-case scenario, Snow's appointment is indeed just a cosmetic enhancement on a body dying of organ failure. Of course, if we have learned anything about George W. Bush, the best-case scenario is almost always too much to expect.

And, it should go without saying that repairing Bush's relationship with the press and offering an olive branch to the conservative base are mutually exclusive tasks. You can do one or the other, but not both.

The reason the White House press corps has turned on Bush is because they have had quite enough of the Kool-Aid, thank you. The members of the base are cranky because they crave more. It will not be possible even for as sophisticated a shill as Tony Snow to satisfy both groups at the same time.