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How Much is a Bush Speech Worth?
The fact that Bush isn’t a good speaker shouldn’t impact his value. “We'll probably be surprised at what he'll fetch simply because—and this is the dirty little secret of the lecture circuit—people want to be able to say 'I had dinner with President Bush last night,’ said Christopher Buckley, a former chief speechwriter for Vice President Bush and a veteran speaker himself. “It's about the photo-op beforehand, the meet and greet. They're not paying for the pearls of wisdom.”
Whether a world leader can command top dollar also depends on the global economy. Tony Blair (who also left office with dismal approval ratings) was paid $500,000 for a November 2007 trip to China. Yet top Clinton clients like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Lehman Brothers are worse off than they were during the last three years, when the three companies shelled out a combined $1.5 million for Clinton’s speaking services. The nightmare scenario has Bush settling for small-time gatherings, like the orthodontist convention Richard Nixon listlessly addresses at the beginning of Frost/Nixon.
Which isn’t to say that Bush couldn’t take unilateral action to drum up interest in his services. According to Katz, Bush's best bet to increase his value is to make headlines with a more candid assessment of his record than ever before.
“He's someone who seems to have a fixed perspective and what you want to hear from a former president is the acquired wisdom, the hard-earned wisdom that they acquired in the Oval Office,” Katz said. “We haven't heard many inklings of that so far and that’s what he needs to bring to a speech to really make an impact on the presidential circuit.”
Of course, if that doesn't work, the former president could always go back to the cagey tactics his PR team brought to the White House.
“If I were his booking agent I'd play up the fact he was a living U.S. president,” Katz said, “But I'd try not to be too specific about which one.”
Benjamin Sarlin is a reporter for The Daily Beast. He previously covered New York City politics for The New York Sun and has worked for talkingpointsmemo.com.
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Part III: I Survived the Bush Presidency
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The Arab states will make GWB rich if he doesn't draw flies anywhere else, which is the likelihood. He has traded on the family name and connections all his life and the Golden Years will be no exception.
There is no good reason why President George W. Bush shouldn't be able to give Bernard Madoff a speech on the benefits of deregulation.
Maybe "W" could do recruiting trips at major colleges and universities to expound the benefit of a Harvard B-school degree. I'm sure they would at least pick up his hotel and food bill.
"Speaking fees" are just another way of paying off public officials for favors done while in office. They are legalized graft. Shortly before he left office, Reagan signed orders greatly benefiting Japanese manufacturers trading with the US. After leaving office he went on a multi-million dollar speaking tour of Japan. Anybody really believe they had any interest in what he had to say? W will be doing the same thing. Expect to see him speaking to oil companies and mining companies as payback for opening up the public lands to them.
As long as W doesn't answer any questions or allow questions to be asked, the bubblehead should be okay, though I'm not sure how often he'll have to duck flying penny loafers ...
Don't you need to be able to speak well before you actually get to make money doing it? How many businesses are willing to spend $50,000 to get the honor of having 43 come to their annual stockholder meeting and utter something like, "I've abandoned free market principles to save the free market system."
He's in super hot demand! The buzz among the carnies is that he's gonna help them make a killing on this summer's Dunk Tank Circuit...
He might do well with a Lessons Learned/Where We Went Wrong series, and a tell-all book pinning blame on Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc. would probably be a best seller. Not that we can reasonably expect such a thing, but it would be interesting regardless of the excuses given.
W will have his hard core republicans paying for his speaking tours.You know the Jonh McCain and Sarah Palin followers.
Limbaugh, Hannity,Billo the clown, Dick Morris, you know all the regulars of FAUX NOISE. They just love being dilusional.
He could probably replenish them coffers faster by hiring himself out to sit in dunk tanks.
Only the addle brained would pay to hear the Porky Pig speaking nitwit of a President speak. Personally I can't wait until his memoirs are printed in crayon. Then his Presidential library will have one book and the complete video works of My Little Pony... .and yet I am sure the place will cost billions.
If people won't pay him to hear him speak, I'm sure there's plenty of shoe throwing folks with big bucks who'd like him to just stand around.
To call his utterances of scrambled syntax, shifting tenses, thoughts which can only be described as inane meanderings of his "mind", and his episodes of stumbling silences where is brain is trying to conjure up an actual synapse, a speech is stretching that word to its limit.
The people who are stupid enough to pay to hear him are the same type of people who actually think Sarah Palin is smart.
I would actually pay dearly to NOT hear him speak....ever....again.
How about a beer and a barbecue circuit? W was supposed to be the president you wanted to have a beer with - this would serve him better I think - he could get off a few off-color remarks to start things up and then circulate, circulate.
It would be wonderful beyond belief if everywhere that dick-brain went in public, for the rest of his life, someone threw a shoe at his stupid head.
Perhaps he could send Will Ferrell and take a percentage.
I think there is fine "coffer-filling" potential for W in three possible venues. First, he might speak at Halloween parties, costumed in his "Mission Accomplished" flight suit, and I hope he would be paid in pretzels rather than cash. He also might follow in his mother's footsteps and write a book from the perspective of one of his dogs--both of which undoubtedly have firmer grasps than he on grammar and syntax. Finally, how about a remake of an old Three Stooges show, with W, Rummy, and Cheney in starring roles?
He'll be too busy getting
PROSECUTED for WAR CRIMES
He could do a book tour
"The Presidency for Dummies"
http://www.SayGoodbyetoGeorge.com
GWB finally pushed me over the edge: for a long time I found it hard to listen to politicians spout their self-serving spin, but this guy turned what was an aversion into a full blown allergic reaction. Even Simon Cowell's face doesn't cue my flicker-finger reflex to change the channel as fast as the image of Dubya about to say something.
I fear, I've been irreparably damaged.
Oh ByeGeorge
Thanks for making me laugh out loud.
I wouldn't pay one red cent to hear any speech again from Bush, if fact he'd have to pay me to listen and to be really honest he couldn't really pay me enough!!!
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