In a May 3 Washington Post article, headlined "For Bush in Last Year, It's the Principle," discussing President Bush's plans for his last year in office, staff writer Dan Eggen wrote that “Bush and his aides say his difficulties have been overstated,” and quoted “a senior White House official” saying, “Don't ever underestimate the leverage of the presidency. ... Many of us here still believe there are a number of things that will get done.” Eggen claimed that the official “requested anonymity in order to speak candidly,” but gave no indication as to why a White House source required anonymity in order to express confidence in the White House's ability to achieve its goals.

Later in the article, Eggen wrote that unnamed “White House aides said Bush's energy has not flagged, and he regularly stresses the urgency of finding solutions for the slowing economy and for rising food and energy prices.”

Media Matters for America has documented several other instances (here, here, here, and here) in which the Post has allowed Bush administration officials to praise Bush, attack his critics, or “talk freely about [his] thinking” anonymously.

From the May 3 Washington Post article:

Bush and his aides say his difficulties have been overstated. Administration officials point to the $168 billion stimulus package he proposed this year, which was approved with bipartisan support and is now showering taxpayers with rebate checks.

Administration officials express confidence about the prospects for several national security measures, such as supplemental war budget proposals being debated in Congress. Several White House aides also said they believe that new surveillance legislation will be pushed through by summer, when wiretap orders issued under a previous law begin to expire.

“Don't ever underestimate the leverage of the presidency,” said a senior White House official, who requested anonymity in order to speak candidly. “Many of us here still believe there are a number of things that will get done.”

[...]

But administration officials, legislative aides and many experts agree that the political pressures facing any president are powerful during the last year, noting that nearly every president since Harry S. Truman has left office with little to show for his final year.

“It's always difficult for a president to have any substantial receptivity to initiatives during the last year in office, particularly when the campaign season takes over,” said Nicholas E. Calio, Bush's first legislative affairs director. “I don't think there's a possibility of much accommodation here.”

White House aides said Bush's energy has not flagged, and he regularly stresses the urgency of finding solutions for the slowing economy and for rising food and energy prices. But there are signs he may be glimpsing the end of the tunnel.

In St. Louis yesterday, Bush visited a classroom equipped with laptops that linked employees in various offices, including one in his home state of Texas.

Talking to an employee in Dallas, Bush quipped: “Tell everybody down there, in about 10 months I'm coming home.”