The economy is humming along just swimmingly, right? That’s the word from the White House, which dispatched its Economic Team across the country on Friday to make that case–in triplicate. This document, sent to reporters in Washington, offers a glimpse at the lengths–hour-by-hour–to which the Bush administration has gone to flood the zone in dispensing its economic news.
So how many officials does it take to spin the fact that the unemployment rate crept to a five-month high of 4.8 percent in July? Four Cabinet secretaries, one deputy secretary, four assistant secretaries, one undersecretary, one deputy undersecretary, one deputy assistant secretary and two directors. Oh, we forgot a chairman and an administrator. In one day, their entourages traveled to 13 cities in 11 states. Is there an election around the corner?