He and his advisers confused the propaganda campaign with the high level of candor and honesty so fundamentally needed to build and then sustain public support during a time of war.
Scott McClellan criticized the Bush administration for using propaganda instead of honesty to gain public support for the Iraq war.
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If the president is committed to embracing a high level of openness and honesty, then we can move Washington beyond this partisan warfare that has been so destructive.
I think it was smart to confront Saddam Hussein. But our options were either, Saddam comes clean or we go to war.
It's too much about party and too little about the country. And we need to put the country first and put the party much lower.
Unfortunately, I think too many people today do look at Washington and say, 'All they're giving us is spin and manipulation, and they're not working together to get things done.'