With Tony Snow expected to return to the White House on Monday after a month-long absence following a recurrence of cancer, acting press secretary Dana Perino will return to a behind-the-scenes communications role.
The 34-year-old Parker native and CSU-Pueblo graduate began her press secretary career working for former Rep. Dan Schaefer, R-Colo., before moving in 2001 to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where she was tapped last year to serve as Snow’s deputy.
On Friday, Perino spoke with Denver Post staff writer Christa Marshall about her time in the spotlight.
Tell me how your day-to-day life has changed in the past month.
DP: I have to say it didn’t change much in terms of hours worked or the intensity of the work. The range of issues that I needed to be more fully able to speak about did increase substantially, especially on the foreign policy side. I’ve been reading a lot more. I thought I didn’t have any free time before, but after this I really didn’t have any.
So you did work longer hours?
DP: Not so much during the week, but I had more to do on weekends.
What’s the toughest thing you’ve had to deal with in the past month taking over for Tony?
DP: Well. That is a good question. One thing obviously, especially in that first week, we were in such a state of shock, and so sad by the news. Gradually that improved as we learned more and Tony was optimistic and it sounded like his chemotherapy was going to be easier than the last time, so that buoyed our spirits.
I have such a fantastic team here. So many people at the White House helped me get ready for the briefings. I feel comfortable going in to ask the president something, as I did today before I went to brief. I told him that the Senate had just voted on the Iraq supplemental bill and got his immediate reaction. So I feel very comfortable being able to stop in the Oval Office. He’s very welcoming of that. My staff here helped me figure out how I could best be organized. They would put together a binder for me at night of the things they thought I needed to be aware of or to read overnight or in the morning. Also Tony Snow is clearly more comfortable at the podium than I am. He’s got years more experience, so I would say, at first it was pretty intimidating because you know you’re being compared to somebody who is considered to be the press secretary ever to hold this position.
Will Tony be back full-time on Monday?
DP: Yes, I think that’s the intention, and then he’ll just play it by ear.
Have you gotten advice from Tony Snow in the past month on how to conduct a briefing? What does he tell you?
DP: No, I’ve really tried to let him rest and recuperate. But I had learned from him and Scott McClellan and Ari Fleischer for the past few years. I had pleasure of having dinner with Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan in the past month. I constantly learn from those gentleman. They are so encouraging. I also got nice notes from several people who had worked here, including someone I was thrilled to get a card from, Marlin Fitzwater. That meant a lot to me.
How often do you meet with the president?
DP: A lot more than I did as deputy, when weeks might go by without seeing him. As acting press secretary it’s been almost daily.
Does anything about the White House press corps frustrate you?
DP: (Laugh) Well today, I did ask them if today was “hypothetical question day.” They kept asking a lot of “ifs,” and we don’t answer ifs. Answering hypotheticals can get anyone into trouble. But for the most part I don’t get frustrated. I really respect everyone in that briefing room. They all work just as hard as I do. And hopefully they feel like they were well served during this interim period.
I have never felt any hostility in the briefing room towards me or towards the president.
What do you think you’ll do when Bush leaves office?
DP: I still don’t know. I do know that my husband (businessman Peter McMahon) and I are still likely to stay here in Washington D.C. We’re currently working on a house project with some remodeling. He travels internationally so much that having three international airports nearby is key to his business. I became a (step) grandmother to twins, so it’s easier to get to see them in Scotland.
But I think the first thing I’m going to do is take some time off. I have a thing called the “fantasy road trip” planned out in my head and I’m taking suggestions on where we should go. I would like to make a circle up through Canada and spend some time in Denver. I haven’t spent more than two consecutive days with my family in years. I don’t have a lot of time to plan my next job right now.
After this experience, would you want to have Tony’s job eventually?
DP: I’m very happy to be the deputy press secretary. It’s plenty challenging, that’s for sure.
How do you prepare for a briefing?
DP: You keep up with the newspapers and the news. It helps having a journalistic background. I can often figure out what people are going to ask, because I know what I would ask. In a way this job is like reporting, because I’ll call the National Security Council and say, “I know I’m going to get this question in the briefing. The president said this on Monday, but that doesn’t answer the second follow-up question. What are the facts, and how should I answer it? We also do a “pre-brief” where we throw out questions that we think we’re going to get and try out the answers and see how they sound.
The war is not popular in the polls right now. How hard is it to “sell” your point of view when the war is unpopular?
DP: Well, what I always do is I look to president for leadership. I am 100 percent devoted to him. The reason why is I believe he is the right president at the right time making the right decisions for this country, based on what he believes is right and what is in the long term security interest of the country. There’s no doubt that it’s very difficult right now to try and explain that. The one thing that I I have learned from him and from what I’ve seen is just how determined the enemy is to destroy us. So that keeps me going. Obviously we have a lot of work to do.
Tell me something the White House press corps doesn’t know about you.
DP: I feel like I’m pretty much an open book. We spend a lot of time together, even socially when we’re out on the road. I feel so totally uninteresting. God. I don’t know. I don’t think they know I can ride a horse. I grew up riding on my grandpa’s ranch in Castle, Wyoming.
You’ve had to admit some mistakes in the past month, such as the email situation with the RNC. What is your philosophy on admitting mistakes?
DP: I don’t think it’s very hard. It’s part of human nature, and I think it was an honest assessment of that, and one that we fixed. It’s what people expect of their elected leader, which is if they find there’s been a problem, to admit it, and to immediately set to work on fixing it, and that’s what we’re doing.
And how do you deal with criticism?
DP: I really try to let it roll off my back. If it’s criticism of how I treated the press, I look at it and see how to improve it. I don’t pay attention to the liberal blogs and what they say about me. Or the conservative blogs for that matter.
How does Washington, D.C., differ from Colorado and the West?
DP: In almost every way. First of all, there’s humidity here. It’s a different pace. It’s different weather. It’s different people. What I love about D.C is what I loved about Colorado. You can make friends from all sorts of walks of life, very quickly. And they can be good friends. I do wish we could tone down the rhetoric here a little bit. Of course, I’m guilty of falling into that trap myself. When I worked for congressman Dan Schaeffer, I think there was a feeling that politicians were honorable, and I wish we could see more of that.
There was widely reported contentious exchange between you and Helen Thomas at a recent briefing. What happened, and what do you think of Helen?
DP: I very much respect Helen. She blazed trails for so many women, and I do not ever forget that there are not many women who have done these jobs in the past. It is women like Helen Thomas who blazed the trail for us, and I’m forever grateful for that. I also respect for her knowledge and her opinions.
That one particular day I’m talking about, it’s just sometimes very hard to concentrate when she continues to talk when you answer a question. I unfortunately got frustrated and I voiced it. I don’t regret it, because I do feel that it was justified, but I have tried to temper myself from getting frustrated like that in subsequent briefings.
Describe what a typical day has been like for you in the past month.
DP: As I told you before, I get up at 4:30 every morning. It’s like being shot from a cannon. I get on the elliptical machine and read all the papers. I can get ready now in about 22 minutes.
I arrive at the White House at 6:15 and then we have gaggles (off-camera briefings) and press briefings and phone calls to return in the afternoon. I return home anywhere between.7:30 and 8:15 p.m.
I answer some emails from home and read my wrap-up book from my staff and then hit the hay at 9:30. I try to use my time wisely. I’ll be in Bolten’s (White House Chief of Staff) office and say, “By the way, the press is asking me about this. Has the president talked about it? Does he know about it? Has Secretary Gates called him?” So I try to do that.
I get most of my work done at the takeout window of the White House Mess (the cafeteria), especially in the morning after the senior staff meeting. You can catch a lot of people and ask a lot of questions at the same time in one fell swoop. A lot of business gets done right there.
How many calls do you get a day?
DP: I get about 600 emails a day, as well as lots of calls from reporters I have to return.
As deputy, you were not on camera much. How has being on camera every day changed your life?
DP: Well, it’s not a natural thing to be on television. I certainly wear more makeup than I ever have in my life and that feels a little weird. You do think about what you’re going to wear. Some things that look okay in the regular workplace don’t look good on camera. We do have a woman on staff who does the makeup every day, and she has a ton of experience working on television. They told me about good colors to wear and patterns to avoid.
How does the White House formulate its message of the day? Who is involved? Is Karl Rove the leader?
DP: The president is the leader. He’s very interested in communications and we get our lead from him. Karl’s input is so valuable but it’s certainly a team effort. Dan Bartlett is the senior counselor to the president and after senior staff we do meet with Dan at 8 o’clock. I get a lot of information from him. There’s planning meetings and we think about what we want to do, like for example we know that on immigration the Senate has said it wants to get a bill out of its chamber by the end of May, so you’ll see the president talking a lot in public about that issue. It’s strategic. We knew the supplemental fight would be this week, so we added additional events on that.
How much are you allowed to deviate from the briefing book?
DP: As much as I want
What does the average person not know about how the White House operates?
DP: Unlike the movies, it’s more of a calm place to be. People don’t run around in the hallways making rash decisions. It’s very collegial. People take their jobs very seriously here. It also never stops taking your breath away. Every day I try and take a pause and realize how fortunate I am to live in this country and to be able to serve this president and come to work at the White House. I try and tell myself that as I’m walking in at 6:15 in the morning.
Tell me something that most people don’t know about Bush
DP: Hopefully they know he is a voracious reader, especially of history books. He recently read a book about Algiers and the war of the 1950s. And he’s very knowledgeable of the history of this country. I was lucky to get a tour of the private quarters and the Lincoln bedroom, and the president led the tour. It was just fantastic to listen to some of the great stories that he knew. And as I told you before, he’s very interested in my grandparent’s ranch, and the story about how the ranch was founded, how many cattle, and what kind.
A reporter from Newsweek said you seem more comfortable off-camera than on-camera. Is that true?
DP: Probably true. I’m not a TV personality. But I think I’ve gotten better.
You’ve become much better known now. What’s that like for you?
DP: I don’t think anyone really recognizes me. I don’t notice it when I’m walking around the city.
How would you assess your performance as acting press secretary?
DP: I’ll let other people do that. I’m just glad I got through it.
How do you let loose?
DP: Red wine and chocolate! And I exercise a lot.
What was the most memorable moment from the last month taking over for Tony?
DP: I think just the remarkable pleasure of serving. I got to go to Camp David. I got to sit in on a meeting with the president of Brazil and I’m going to get to go with Bush to meet with the new Prime Minister of Japan. Those are very special moments. I’ll always remember the feeling of how this team pulled together during a tough time. They are a fantastic group of individuals. We did not miss a beat. We can’t afford to.
