When we heard that Tony Snow has been describing the job of White House press secretary as being part of "an inner White House circle, where you've got to make decisions," we thought he was mis-overestimating just a little what it would mean to be a flack for George W. Bush.
But maybe not. The Washington Post is reporting that Snow has accepted the press secretary job -- contingent on getting a clean bill of health from a CAT scan taken last week -- but only after getting assurances that he will be "an active participant in administration policy debates." The Post's report follows on a similar report from the National Journal's Hotline, which said that Snow was offered the job some time ago but has been negotiating with Josh Bolten over the powers he will wield. Apparently unwilling to be the guy who passes along whatever he's been told, Snow asked for "guaranteed access to the president's ear and to an unusually large degree of latitude to reconfigure the [White House] press operation," the Hotline said.
We don't know what that means, exactly, except that Helen Thomas and David Gregory might want to keep a close eye on their seats in the White House press briefing room.
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