Electricity in Baghdad

The Carpetbagger Report is puzzled:

Again with the electricity talk?: What's with the fascination among Republican leaders about electricity in Baghdad? Yesterday, during his Chicago press conference, Bush said:

"We occasionally are able to pop in with great success, like Zarqawi or 12 million people voting. But increasing electricity in Baghdad is not the kind of thing that tends to get on the news."

It's a mystery why Bush would want to draw attention to "electricity in Baghdad." It's an even bigger mystery why House Speaker Dennis Hastert and White House Press Secretary Tony Snow have been emphasizing the exact same point recently.

Look, supporters of the war don't have a lot of success stories to choose from; I get that. But this talk about electricity in Baghdad is misguided -- as recently as April, Baghdad residents received an average of four hours of electricity per day, compared to pre-war levels of 16-24 hours per day.

This might help explain why it's "not the kind of thing that tends to get on the news."

It's an interesting question. Does Bush actually think he should be proud of the record on electricity in Baghdad? Or does Bush just know that if he claims to be proud of it, the press will roll over and show its belly once again, and people will think there is something to be proud of?

Interesting question.