What does it take to see our President?

In 1800, a letter to the President would have most certainly guaranteed a personal reply from none other than John Adams himself. In 2003, mail rarely reaches the White House and instead is irradiated in some out-of-the-way suburban office park (and even then it sits for months). E-mail barely gets through unless you choose whether it is a "supporting comment," "differing opinion," or "general comment."

American Democracy is a great thing. Remember when the White House was the People's House and Congress was open to all? Now these great democratic institutions have gone the way of their European counterparts: one can not even enter the European Parliament in Strasbourg to use the lavatory when Parliament is not in session, no less see a delegate. With optimism and faith in our government, I was somehow confident that I would be able to see President Bush on his trip to London, where I happen to be studying for the year.

First, I phoned the US Embassy, where my call was bounced around, put on and off hold, and finally transferred to the press office. Not being a journalist, I was told to call back in a few weeks. Undeterred, I figured my chances would be much greater if I rang up the White House directly. Presumably, the White House staff would be accustomed to handling such requests from people interested in seeing the President on his travels. Someone must be able to help me out, right?

I called the switchboard and was put through to scheduling. I was told flat out that the president's schedule is not released and that they could do nothing for me. But I am a constituent and I just want to hear a speech! How can Mr. Bush be President if he never sees a voter? Grudgingly, I was given the number of the Press Secretary's office -- the phone system was too complicated to transfer calls -- though it was that clear I am not a reporter. I was then redirected to the Press Office, and finally transferred to the Presidential Advance Office.

Regardless of whom I spoke with, people seemed flustered at the thought of a non-reporter wanting to see the president. Clearly, it was an inconvenience to speak with an ordinary citizen. I developed a contact in the Presidential Advance Office, and called weekly to see if my request was making progress. I am not looking to protest, expecting private time, or even a handshake. I just wanted to see him speak in the flesh about something of substance (it is not hard to come up with a topic: Iraq, the economy, healthcare, corporate accountability...).

Unfortunately, Mr. Bush will also never see "ordinary" Brits, aside from the vetted few invited to a scripted pub lunch. His advance office said that between 50 and 100 requests for tickets to see the President in London were received, but none of the requesters received one -- not even a few tickets were offered by lottery. This small number of requests is miniscule, relative to the 286 million Americans, yet no concerted effort is made to connect Mr. Bush to the people he represents, at least not the four million Americans overseas.

The President proclaims his respect for protestors, yet he never sees them. Coming in to the airport, he was whisked off in a helicopter, high above and out of touch with the millions of Londoners below. White House Press Pool reports say that the hecklers are heard inside Buckingham Palace. While the palace may have started as a townhouse in 1837, it has more than 600 rooms today and I very much doubt the voices carried to Mr. Bush's royal suite. Mr. Bush misses out on so much beyond his isolated and controlled existence. For a man said to be so personable, he seems to avoid his constituents -- why can he not meet with a patriotic American citizen who wants to hear his President? If our last President could give a speech to 750,000 Africans under a brutal sun and work a rope-line, surely Mr. Bush could meet a Londoner or two, or maybe just an American studying abroad?

After being in New Hampshire for the summer, I have seen how easy it is to meet presidential candidates. But now I have to ask: once the nominations are decided, do candidates stop being real people and just become talking heads that schlep from one television spectacle to the next? The President of the United States' actions are anything but irrelevant to the world, but does he see the effects of his presidency? George W. Bush does not read the nine newspapers that Eisenhower read daily, pay attention to polls, or meet his constituents -- so how is he representing me, or my fellow Americans?

So perhaps I was na??ve to think I could see the President. Even after this experience, I still struggle with the enormity of my final conclusion. Could it really be that one simply cannot see a sitting President without being a carefully vetted partisan? And yes of course -- I too am partisan -- but first and foremost I am a patriot. I am an American citizen. And after all is said and done, he is still my president.

Jonathan Kruesi is a junior majoring in Economics