Say Anything Blog

It is going to be Tony Snow.

WASHINGTON -- The White House tomorrow is expected to name Fox News anchor and former presidential speechwriter Tony Snow as press secretary, Republican officials said Tuesday night.

Mr. Snow will replace Scott McClellan, who is stepping down after three years as President Bush's chief spokesman, as the White House continues an overhaul intended to re-energize Mr. Bush's presidency.

Mr. Snow, a Fox News commentator and a White House speechwriter for the former President Bush, has written and spoken frequently about the current president -- not always in a complimentary way. While Mr. Snow is an experienced Washington hand, he isn't among the president's core of advisers.

The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, circulated unflattering observations by Mr. Snow about the president. "His [Bush's] wavering conservatism has become an active concern among Republicans, who wish he would stop cowering under the bed and start fighting back against the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Wilson," Mr. Snow wrote last November after Republicans failed to win the governor's race in Virginia. "The newly passive George Bush has become something of an embarrassment."

Last month, Mr. Snow wrote that the president and Republicans in Congress had "lost control of the federal budget and cannot resist the temptation to stop raiding" the treasury. In an interview earlier Tuesday, Mr. Snow said, "It's public record. I've written some critical stuff. When you're a columnist, you're going to criticize and you're going to praise."

Sounds to me like Mr. Snow will be a good influence in the Bush administration for we conservatives.

Why the Center for American Progress would feel the need to point out that Snow doesn't think Bush is conservative enough at times is beyond me.