Value Judgment: The Part-Time President

Value Judgment is a daily weblog written by two independent voters on the eastern seaboard of the United States. VJ will focus on the 2004 U.S. Presidential campaigns, including strategy, tactics, and substance. The authors supported Howard Dean in the Democratic primary. Accordingly, his activities will be a prominent topic on this site.

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J at valuejudgment.org

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April 9, 2004

The Part-Time President

Laziest "War President" Ever.

Hell: Laziest President Ever.

He works the equivalent of three days a week!

This is Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days[!] in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency.

Boy. Tough job, being a President chosen by God to take a lot of vacation.

He takes more vacation than Europeans. In Denmark people get 31 days, in France: 25. Hey, warfloggers: George Bush vacations 4 times as much as the French! Is he serious about combating terror, or is he "on the other side"?

As Josh Marshall puts it:

Vacation gibes are usually unfair. But with the situation in Iraq so critical, shouldn't the president be at the White House? It's a full-time job, comes with a decent salary...

Posted by V at April 9, 2004 12:43 PM

Comments

And none of this includes all the time he spends campaigning and fundraising.

Posted by: J at April 9, 2004 01:27 PM

First... I think he is the worst president we have ever had.

But.

I think the bouncing around 'tween the ranch and the White House has been a security thing. You don't really think he's on vacation? Being President is 24/7. They don't get Christmas off. They just get to work a half day.

Posted by: Brian at April 9, 2004 05:51 PM

I don't buy that it's a security thing. Even prior to 9/11 he'd spent more than 1/3 of his time on vacation, IIRC.

And I don't buy that this guy works anywhere close to 24/7. Check out Paul O'Neill's book for his impression of Dubya's work habits. Or Clarke's, who compares Dubya's complete lack of curiousity to Clinton (who read approximately one book per night.)

Posted by: J at April 9, 2004 08:56 PM