The Bush administration hasn't had much to crow about lately, but hiring Kevin Sullivan as its new communications director is a bright spot.
Sullivan, onetime NBC Universal spokesman, is a good guy who answers phone calls and either answers the question or says he can't.
My recent experience with Bush communicators has been mixed, with numerous phone calls going unreturned, but, in at least one case, an actual heads-up given on an important event–the indecency bill-signing.
I am looking for a more consistent response, and Sullivan is the guy who can do it. DOE brought him in for a special post created after the Inspector General's report found communication problems at the agency. By all accounts, he was the right man for the job, which is why the president decided he was the right person for this key job (Toby Ziegler, for those whose White House executive charts are keyed to West Wing.
Sullivan will now be in charge of getting information to the press folk who don't camp out at the White House every day but still need some access to the goings-on at 1600 Pa. Ave.
Which brings me to CJ, uh, Tony Snow (no "e," which I inadvertently stuck on the end of his name in the online version of the Sullivan appointment having Congresswoman Olympia Snowe stuck in my head, I think). I have not seen anyone better at handling the tough-but-endless questions of Helen Thomas, who doesn't seem to take either no or yes for an answer.
By John Eggerton
