During a report on the December 13 broadcast of NBC's Today, National Review White House correspondent Byron York suggested that President Bush delayed his announcement of changes to the administration's Iraq war policy -- initially planned to be delivered before Christmas -- until January because of “public relations,” adding: "[T]he president wants to come out with something new, something fresh, and something that will help change the debate at the same time that the Democratic Congress is taking office and getting a lot of attention in Washington." This comment drew no response from Today co-host Matt Lauer or NBC News White House correspondent Kelly O'Donnell, despite the daily toll of casualties in Iraq, including the deaths of nearly 50 U.S. troops in December alone. O'Donnell, who filed the report, introduced York's comments by simply noting that “observers also see a political benefit in waiting until the new year.” Lauer ignored York's statement completely, even though conservative radio host William Bennett referred to York's comments during an interview following O'Donnell's report.

By contrast, Roger Simon, chief political columnist for The Politico, a political news website to be launched in January 2007, commented on the possible political considerations behind the delayed announcement on the December 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, saying: “The trouble is, people are dying and maybe that would be a reason to speed things up a little.”

As Media Matters for America has documented, there have been several reported instances of the Bush administration manipulating the timing of announcements or actions in the Iraq war and the fight against terrorism for its own political benefit. As recently as October 24, CBS News White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reported that a White House official told him, "[D]o not expect to see anything significant prior to Election Day" “as far as a significant change” in the Bush administration's Iraq policy, and then quoted the official as saying: “You're not going to see anything before November 8th. It would be political suicide, and Karl Rove would never allow it.”

From O'Donnell's report on the December 13 broadcast of NBC's Today:

O'DONNELL: Another factor: giving the new secretary of defense, Robert Gates, a chance to visit Iraq. But observers also see a political benefit in waiting until the new year.

YORK: I think there's a public relations aspect to this, which is the president wants to come out with something new, something fresh, and something that will help change the debate at the same time that the Democratic Congress is taking office and getting a lot of attention in Washington.

O'DONNELL: But expectations are fading for improved management of the war. According to a new survey, 50 percent responded that Iraq will be another Vietnam, while 33 percent say the U.S. will accomplish its goals.

YORK: I think the biggest danger for Bush would be that he unrolls the plan and people say, “That's more of the same.”

O'DONNELL: Aides say the president has narrowed what he wants to do and is, quote, “moving in a certain direction.” And they also say this delay is not a sign of trouble.

Following O'Donnell's report, Lauer interviewed Bennett, who referred to York's comments. Bennett, however, instead of commenting on the administration's alleged politicization of the war, said: “I'm not sure there are a whole lot of new and fresh options.” From Lauer's interview with Bennett:

LAUER: Let's talk about this listening tour. I mean, what do you make of this? Is this about changing the impression that the president is a guy who doesn't listen to others, doesn't take advice? Is it about lessening the impact of the Iraq Study Group report? Is it PR? What do you make of it?

BENNETT: Well, it's a little bit of that. Obviously, the president's been criticized for not listening, so he's listening. And notice he's being criticized for that, so that's the way Washington works. But I think it's also genuine, Matt. He heard what the Iraq Study Group had to say, didn't like it. He's going to go to the Pentagon today; he'll listen over there. My guess is that may be more to his liking. I don't know if there are really that many more options. I saw the piece -- Byron York said in that setup piece -- has to be new and fresh. I'm not sure there are a whole lot of new and fresh options. But --

LAUER: Let me talk about --

BENNETT: Yeah.

LAUER: -- let me talk about this study group report then. It's really created all kinds of controversy. Some people say, “Hey, these recommendations might help us extricate ourselves from Iraq.” Other people, like [Sen.] John McCain [R-AZ], say it's a formula for defeat. I haven't read many people who are as strongly against it as you were.

In contrast to Lauer, O'Donnell, and Bennett, Simon explained that “stagecraft” played into the decision to delay Bush's address and noted that the “trouble” with “stagecraft” is that “people are dying.” From the December 13 edition of Hardball:

SIMON: Right, and the decider is not deciding. I mean, if the decider doesn't decide, he's dithering and you can call him a ditherer. I think there are two things slowing down President Bush's decision.

The main one is that he can't get his head around the fact that in order to change policy, he has to admit explicitly or implicitly that he made a tragic mistake starting this war. He doesn't like to admit any mistakes. I don't think he's about to admit this one.

And the second one is more minor, but it has to do with stagecraft. They don't want to do a major pitch speech at Christmastime. You know, they want the perfect speech in the perfect setting. They don't want people thinking about the holidays and football and spending time with their families. The trouble is, people are dying and maybe that would be a reason to speed things up a little.