Addiction to Addition: Bush’s campaign themes included his disdain for public opinion polls and Clinton’s “govern-by-numbers” approach. Nevertheless, members of Bush’s administration — especially Karl Rove — turn out to be avid consumers of polling data. One critic describes them, in contrast to Clinton’s use of polling “to craft popular policies”, as “using polling to spin unpopular ones”. Perhaps more concerning, “…at least the Clintonites were upfront about their addiction to addition. The Bush method is all denial and secrecy, just like its energy plan. The president’s pollsters, Jan van Lohuizen and Fred Steeper, are kept in a secure location — the very distant background.” Maureen Dowd’s commentary concludes, “Aides to Mr. Bush have spent the seven months since the terrorist attacks telling us about his ‘resolute’ grit as a leader. Now we must wonder, every time they reiterate that the president is ‘focused,’ whether the word was focus-grouped.” NY Times