What We Have Here....

Is absolutely not a failure to communicate.

Last week, I read an article in The Economist suggesting that the biggest reason the Paulson bailout plan failed to convince the majority of House members (at least initially) and the majority of Americans was President Bush's inability to communicate. It's a point Richard Edelman also made at his blog .

I am not suggesting that the administration's communications approach was perfect, or even adequate. Those we interviewed for this article provide plenty of ideas about how that communications effort could have been improved.

My point is that even the best communications effort would have fallen short, because of a far larger underlying problem: the administration has absolutely zero credibility.

The truth is that most people lack the expertise to evaluate competing claims about the strength of the economy and the efficacy of various plans for fixing it. Lacking the expertise, they must evaluate the credibility of those offering advice. And if the history of the past eight years has taught them anything, it is that if the Bush administration's lips are moving, there's a pretty good chance it's lying.

And confidence in the business community is not much higher.

So this is not a failure of communications. It's something far more critical: a failure of public relations. Relations with the public have been destroyed by eight years of mendacity, spin and contempt. That's the ultimate proof that reputation matters, and that institutions that squander reputation for short-term gain ultimately suffer dire consequences.