Salon.com Politics

Bush seemed to write off his isolation as an inevitable part of the presidency. It is, and it isn't. Presidents don't do their own grocery shopping, and they don't chew the fat down at the corner barber shop. But there's nothing in the Constitution that requires presidents to appear before invitation-only crowds, nothing that requires that "Ask the President" events feature only questions designed to highlight the White House talking points of the day. There's nothing that prohibits the president from reading newspapers.

Bush has chosen to isolate himself from the electorate, and he doesn't seem to recognize the effect of his decision. When King asked about anger in America Thursday night, Bush said: "I think there may be handfuls of people that are very emotional." Bush seemed to confuse his stage-managed events with real life, forgetting -- or choosing to ignore the fact -- that the people at campaign events are invited guests of the Republican Party, that the Secret Service keeps protestors out of the president's sight.