Bush dings Obama -- but not by name

Does George W. Bush have a problem uttering Barack Obama's name?

Asked last week about the Democratic presidential candidate's trip to Iraq, President Bush said that "whoever goes there" and "whatever elected official goes there" should listen to the boots on the ground.

"And so I would ask whoever goes there, whatever elected official goes there, to listen carefully to what is taking place, and understand that the best way to go forward is to listen to the parties who are actually on the ground. And that's hard to do. I understand for some in Washington there's a lot of pressure; you got these groups out there -- MoveOn.org, you know, banging away on these candidates, and it's hard to kind of divorce yourself from the politics. And so I'm glad -- I'm glad all the -- a lot of these elected officials are going over there, because they'll get an interesting -- they'll get an interesting insight, something that you don't get from just reading your wonderful newspapers or listening to your TV shows.

It wasn't the first time the president has avoided using Obama's name lately. Washington Post researcher Madonna Lebling, who reviewed Bush's statements over the last year, found only a handful in which he mentioned the candidate's name. By contrast, Bush mentions Republican John McCain by name frequently.

Bush is known for his problems with the English language, but this isn't one of them. If it were, he could call Obama (seen in the photo above during an aerial tour of Baghdad with Gen. David Petraeus and Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel) by his childhood name, Barry. Or Bush could give him one of those infamous Bush nicknames. In this case, says the White House, the president wants to avoid becoming a pundit-in-chief.

Or, as they say in Politics 101, never give the other side free airtime.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Staff Sgt. Lorie Jewell / AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[Jeff]

Who cares how Bush refers to him? He doesn't have to refer to him at all. I don't even like the Bush, but give it a rest.

[Robert]

"Bush is known for his problems with the English language." Glad to see you're unbiased.

Even someone with no bias knows that Bush isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. A tool, yes, but not the sharpest.

[jc]

Bush might also have a music video...YES WE CAN...Go to War! Let's concentrate on avoiding war...not starting war. Go Obama!

[D.E.B. DuBois]

Mr. Bush was confused of whether to call him Savior or just Barrack!
S. 2433 Senate Bill will help pay for this very useful trip for whoever goes there. Mr. Obama should be able to afford many useful trips in the future
with the Global Poverty Tax about to be passed by the U.S. Senate. $2000 per every man, woman, and child in the United States. S2433 will add about 855
billion dollars to the already existing 345 billion in foreign aid. Hunger will cease to exist outside of the United States. You will see this in a carbon tax on your gasoline, and petroleum byproducts. Haven't heard of this bill? Mr. Obama is the writer and sponser of this terrific bill to end all global hunger. Americans will be glad to fund this and feel good about themselves. Go Obama! Go Obama! Savior of the world, our savior, Global King!

[Jim Graue]

Robert: Are you kidding?!?? There's no bias in stating a fact: George W. Bush does not speak English well, even if it is his native tongue. His frequent malapropisms are equalled only by his lack of command of sentence structure and verb conjugation. I'm afraid the only bias showing here is yours.

[chris]

The sad thing is Sen. Obama is respected more by the rank and file military men and women serving this country than Bush or McCain despite their attempts to paint themselves as pro-military. They are in fact pro military industrial complex making money off wars and the people on the frontlines who risk it all know it.

[Dimitiri]

Yes this nation is truly headed to hell with peak oil and what not i hope Obama wins but i think we will be hard up any way.

[Bill]

It's interesting when you tell the truth you're "biased". Tell me Bush DOESN'T mangle the English language. Suddenly, the Bush adminstration is doing EXACTLY what Obama has been saying for the last year. Set timelines, move troops to Afghanistan and negotiate with Iran. The republicans would like you to believe this is what they planned all along. Obama goes to the MIddle East and his is given an overwhelming welcome by U.S. troops and foreign leaders alike. You can just tell they can't wait for Bush to be jetisonned from the Whitehouse and Obama to be the new leader of what is still the most powerful nation in the world.

[Jen]

sad day in America when having to vote for the lesser of two evils.

[steve]

As if Bush ever listened to "the boots on the ground." What a hoot. He's gotten rid of everyone who disagreed with him. What a fantasy world this guy lives in.

[dan Z]

Robert and Jim,
I think you are both mistaken. It is not that Bush as a problem with the English language. It is that he has a problem with spoken language in general. Imagine him trying to learn a foreign language like Spanish. Given Obama's support for foreign language study in primary education, could this be why Bush appears to consciously avoid mentioning his name?

[erik]

a couple years ago Obama was on a late night show and when asked about Bush and any relationship existing, Barack answered by kind of laughing and doing an impersonation of bush mispronouncing his name every time they had met. Even though its not the case now, at one time it was... and get off it, George W Bush has a firm handle on public speaking and or extensive knowledge of the English language??? and stating the inverse is bias???... Glad to see false pride is alive and well in the USA.... Plain and simple it hurts to hear the man speak, it is an embarrassment that we elected this clumsy, pride driven half-wit.... Thanks middle America we are always glad your on board..

[susan]

I feel sad to read all this hype about a PRESUMPTIVE democrati candidate's maiden trip to Afghanistan, Europe, etc. The Omaba camp and the mainstream media must think we Americans are fools or plain stupid, that we are going to think more about his (in fact, their) capability to be commander in chief, just by going over there and chit chatting with all these head honcho's over there? This is plainly a political move to boost Omaba's ratings at a time when he's at a stalemate with Senator McCain. What a hoax ! And all the money & manpower splurged for nothing .... This is clearly a scene from a Hollywood block buster, which eventually tanked ... God bless America indeed!

[Richard]

Dear Johanna Neuman,

Doesn't the editor allow you to report/write on something meaningful?
Johanna, it doesn't matter what George Bush says or does not say - he has no basic manners - his legacy will portray him as oaf. Do an article on the Credit Card implosion that may be worse than the sub-prime corruption catastrophe.
Regards - tell your editor where to get off.

[Hotguyg]

He never referred to Kerry or Gore by name either. What does to the cheap shot have to do with the point of the article?

[abby0802]

Bush, no one cares about your "ding" about Obama.
Bush lied to the American public; started a war for his rich oil buddies and to feed his own ego; allowed no-bid contracts for Cheney's friends at Halliburton; and has ignored the real danger in Afghanistan. The Bush administration has allowed torture ignoring international law and our own country's laws. Bush has shown poor judgment and downright malfeasance throughout his administration.
Our economy is in the toilet while his rich friends (and family) get tax cuts. People are losing their jobs and homes and cannot afford the price of food, fuel, and medical care.
But in Bush's world all will be well. The rich oil industry is making record profits while Bush uses the cost of oil as an excuse to allow his friends to get at what may or may not be viable offshore drilling and drilling in ANWAR no matter how long it takes for them to produce said oil.
The last thing we need is 4 more years of McBush.

[Glenn Carpenter]

Mr. Bush , never learned to say Mr., what class ! First grade ?

[Cal]

If George Bush is against something you can rest assured it is probably the right thing to do. He is easily the most clueless American president ever!

[Greg]

To uh... those that say America won't be fooled by Obamas trip... THEN WHY DID YOU MAKE IT AN ISSUE TO BEGIN WITH??? LOL!!

You and the media tickle me. You talk about him not going and then when he goes you knock that too. So in essence he would have gone 20 times already and it would not have made a difference to you.

McCain has been on trips. Ok.
So have other people who have visited these areas as civilians.
Do we make them president? Heck no!

McCain was stumped over Viagra and America still trust him as Commander and Chief??? What a joke!!! And a sad one at that.

[captbilly]

It's hard to tell if he dinged anybody, I am not at all sure I know what he was trying to say. I realize that public speaking isn't the only thing that a president has to do but Bush is so bad that it is embarrassing. How did this guy ever graduate from Yale and Harvard? I realize that he had some pretty attrocious grades at Yale (2.1 gpa at an ivy leage school is in the bottom couple of percent, I know, I went to an Ivy league school just a few years after Bush), but how could he even graduate with his poor communications skills?

Does anyone even care any more what Bush says? I am not willing to go so far as to say that I am automatically for anything that Bush is against (or vice versa) but never in human history has a supposed leader been wrong so much of the time. I suppose it is amusing to see what Bush has to say because he says such rediculous things, but nobody could still believe that his word means anything.

[Hobo Joe]

I am tired of listening to all this Bush Bashing by all these experts who think think the Democrats are God's Gift to America. The financial problems in the banks, the home foreclosure problems, the high cost of gas at the pump, the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, 9/11 can all be attributed to the failed liberal policies of the Clinton Administration coming home to roost. The passage of NAFTA, the liberal lending policies of the banks, the refusal to let the FBI share intelligence with other security agencies by a Clinton Appointee before 9/11, etc. etc. are the main cause of our problems today. They have been festering for years and finally are coming to a head.