ROBERT NOVAK, CO-HOST: Tonight: President Bush’s summer vacation. Is he taking off too much time? Or can he do his job at his ranch house just as well as at the White House?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don’t have to be in Washington to work. It’s amazing what can happen with telephones and faxes. […] […] […]

The “Washington Post” calculates that George W. Bush has spent 42 percent of his time as president on vacation or traveling to vacations.

But his aides call his August activity, home to the heartland, with President Bush making side trips. Today, for instance, he did his imitation of Jimmy Carter by helping raise the wooden frame of a Habitat for Humanity house. He also did his imitation of Jerry Ford by accidentally smashing his index finger.

Is it a disgrace for the president to take off so much time? Or is it refreshing for him to spend a vacation in a house he paid for himself instead of following Bill Clinton’s path in mooching off rich liberal friends?

Donna Brazile, Al Gore’s campaign manager, is sitting in for Bill Press on the left. Welcome, Donna.

DONNA BRAZILE, FORMER GORE CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Barbara, the president once again is on the defensive, this time defending his month long vacation, the longest in presidential campaign history.

Let me ask you a question. Recent polls show that 55 percent of the American people believe that the president is spending too much time away from Washington. Is it a bit much? Are you concerned?

BARBARA COMSTOCK, RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: No, not at all because first of all when you’re president you never have a day off.

How many people on vacation get briefings about Iraqi troop movements or Saddam Hussein? I know I don’t when I get those days off. He are in the 21st century, telecommunications age, where wherever the president goes, the Oval Office is with him.

When he’s down there with his aides, he is working on issues, he is going to be traveling to six states, eight or nine cities. Today as we heard, the habitat for humanity, he was meeting there, but he was also meeting with HUD secretary Mel Martinez down there before that working on issues. And the real issue is, let’s look at the record of accomplishment, not how many hours he sits behind a desk. […]

PETER FENN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I’ll talk about the Florida reach count with you, but actually the way I look at this is this is good news and bad news, Bob. The good news for the Democrats is that he’s out of town and he is not causing as much trouble.

The bad news for the country is that he’s disengaged. And that I think is what people are concerned about, is that you have a president here who sometimes appears to not know what’s going on, to have his head in the clouds, and you know, he’s down there trying to talk about the patients bill of rights, and he says, you know, the Ganske somebody or other, somebody or other, somebody or other, you are thinking, oh boy.

So I think the thing that concerns the American people is you’ve gone from a president who knows the facts, who is engaged, who was very effective as president, to someone who they have still real serious questions about. […]

NOVAK: I know, Peter, you don’t understand a lot of things that go on around here, but I want to cite somebody who really knows what Bush is doing down there. Let’s listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BUSH: I’m headed home to the heart land to listen to the American people, and to talk about the values that unite and sustain our country. Members of Congress are going home as well. When we all come back in September, so many accomplishments are within our reach and I look forward the work ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NOVAK: Now, if we can just suspend for just a second all the spin about all the good Democratic issues which I’ve heard a million times, tell me, Peter, what is wrong with the president going home and, as you know, the president of the United States can go anywhere in the world and he’s still the president.

FENN: He is on that wonderful plane, Air Force One. No, I don’t begrudge him a vacation or going home. But I think what you have is, you have, look, you had an article in “The New York Times” right before the election talking about his style as governor.

And it was rather scary to a lot of us because it talked about him coming in at 9:30, 10 o’clock, taking two, three hours for lunch and work outs. Coming back, having a few photo-ops and going home at 5 o’clock.

And that was during the legislative session, that wasn’t in the off time. So I think the American people are a little concerned about a disengaged president. […]

NOVAK: One of my favorite presidents and I think he was a great president was Calvin Coolidge. He really was my kind of president and he slept 13 hours a day. Now, can somebody like you, who wants government to do more and more, think that there’s a lot of us Americans out there who feel happy when the president is sleeping, when he’s taking it easy, when he’s not trying to make our lives better as Bill Clinton did every waking hour? Can you believe that?

FENN: Listen, I hope he can sleep.

NOVAK: But can you understand that?

FENN: I can understand some of that but I think you want an activist president. You want a president who is engaged an inquisitive and knows the details.

NOVAK: Don’t you know that there’s a lot of us who don’t want an activist president?

BRAZILE: Bob, the American people want a president on the job.

The average American spends only 13 days on vacation each year. And yet this president…

NOVAK: They’d like to spend 30, though. [….]

NOVAK: One thing, I hate to ask this question, I really don’t want to ask it, but you forced me into it by saying the president doesn’t work hard. Isn’t it true that when President Bush is in the Oval Office you know he’s working?

FENN: Oh. Is that nasty or what? He could be sleeping. They asked him today did you hear? That was a great line, the guy said are you taking any naps while you’re down here Mr. President?

He said I’m not going to comment on that.

(CROSSTALK) NOVAK: I would rather him be sleeping than doing what Clinton was doing.

BRAZILE: I think he is lifting weights and working on his shoulders. Making sure he’s buffed.

COMSTOCK: If he’s working on that and he’s passing all this legislation, look at that the faith-based initiative that he got through there when he was out putting today the Habitat for Humanity.

(CROSSTALK) FENN: Barbara, where you are right, is the rubber is going to hit the road in September. It is going to hit the road on spending bills. It us going to hit the road on spending bills, it is going to hit the road on this tax cut, which — wait a minute… […]

COMSTOCK: Well you look at all of the polls that the press is putting out and the president’s numbers have been very high. You don’t see the kind of erotic roller coaster that we had with Bill Clinton because this president is disciplined and focused. He is getting the work done that he came in here and said he was going to do. […]

NOVAK: See you can’t understand this, but there’s a lot of us who feel that when the president is relaxing when he’s not working, when he’s sleeping, whether he’s Republican or Democrat that’s a plus for the American people because we want to be left alone.

BRAZILE: I understand, Bob.

NOVAK: We don’t want to be taken care of.

BRAZILE: But we have some pressing needs in this country right now and we need a president who is engaged and on the front lines helping the American people, especially working families.
……………………………………………………..

And the beat goes on. The rubber is going to hit the road in September?

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