Pay Attention Scott McClellan: A Primer for Press Secretaries

Today former Clinton White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart was on CNN with Bill Hemmer, and he very kindly provided some important guidelines for those who would be Press Secretaries.

Joe said:
You know, I looked this morning at the White House Web page and found out that Scott McClellan, the man who says we ought to have answers to these questions, has held two White House briefings in the last two months. Now, that is a White House that doesn't want to answer questions.

I used to -- you know, listen, I went through some pretty tough times as the White House press secretary, and I got myself during impeachment, during scandal, and I stood up there every day and answered the questions because I think the public has a right to know what's going on with the president, what's going on around the world. This White House has had two White House briefings in the last two months.

You know, it's a government jo
b, but it pays pretty well. You know, that's a lot of money for one briefing a month.

If you look at the White House Web page that Joe referred to, it shows that Scott McClellan held a Press Briefing on September 15th; before that he held one on August 2nd and 9th; for a fourth we have to go all the way back to July 21st!

Just to recap: that's FOUR Press Briefings in TWO MONTHS!

Now we will compare this to Joe Lockhart's rate during the Clinton Impeachment (argueably the toughest time for him). The records I used are from Clinton Presidential Center Web site. Bill Clinton's impeachment officially started on December 19, 1998, and ran until February 12, 1999, when he was aquitted on all charges. That's roughly two months, and when I looked for Press Briefings by Joe Lockhart during this period, I found this list:

December 21, 1998
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart
December 22, 1998
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 4, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 5, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 6, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 7, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 11, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart I
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart II

January 12, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart I
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart II

January 13, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 15, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 18, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 21, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 22, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 25, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 26, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 27, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 28, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

January 29, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

February 2, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart in Massachussets

February 3, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

February 4, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

February 5, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

February 10, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

February 11, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart

February 12, 1999
Press Briefing by Joe Lockhart


To sum up, that's 25 days where Joe Lockhart held a Press Briefing (27 Press Briefings total). That doesn't include briefings by other administration officials. 25 days, in a 46-day period that includes several major holidays.

Admittedly Scott McClellan hasn't been completely out of touch with the press corps. He holds "Press Gaggles", an abbreviated version of a Press Briefing. I decided to calculate the number of total press interactions Scott McClellan has had in the last 46 days, and then compare it to Joe Lockhart's rate. During an equivalent period (August 7, 2004 through September 21, 2004) Scott (according to the White House Briefings Summary page) had 27 days (I included September 21, because he had a Gaggle that wasn't transcripted yet) where he saw the press. This compares reasonably with Joe Lockhart's rate, if you ignore all other information.

Note: the gaggles usually are a third to a half as long as a full briefing.