Backstory: All the news that's fit to observe

Once a month, like clockwork, the e-mail appears in every White House reporter's inbox: the in-town "pool" rotation. For each newspaper, that's our monthly invitation to grab a ringside seat on the president's day - or at least those portions of his day in which he will tolerate a jostling scrum of about 13 reporters, photographers, and TV techies tracking his every move and utterance.

For us daily printies, the rules are clear. At any "pool only" event, you alone represent the newspaper corps and must share your observations in a report. The point is to share the burden, or the wealth, of a task that can be an exercise in near-futility - or a chance to watch history in the making. Helen Thomas, who covered the White House for United Press International for nearly 40 years, recalls how her boss, Merriman Smith, rode in the third car in President Kennedy's motorcade in Dallas on that fateful day in November 1963. Mr. Smith won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage.

In more recent times, my Monitor colleague Francine Kiefer had White House pool duty two days after 9/11 - and was ushered into the Oval Office with the rest of the pool. "Mr. President," she asked, "could you give us a sense as to what kind of prayers you are thinking and where your heart is, for yourself, as you..."

"Well, I don't think about myself right now," Mr. Bush began. "I think about the families, the children." His eyes filled with tears.

After 3-1/2 years on the White House beat, I have yet to hit that kind of historic moment. Usually, in fact, in-town pool duty is more a test of my observational skills than anything else: Does the president's body language or tone of voice betray anything? Who else is in the room and why? Is actual news taking place? The typical report chronicles the workaday dealings of the president, such as comments to reporters after a closed cabinet meeting, spiced with dashes of humor and, one hopes, a telling detail or two.

"Often, pool duty is a lot of sitting in vans and standing outside the Oval," sums up Julie Mason, a White House correspondent for the Houston Chronicle.

Still, some pool assignments do carry the potential for fuller interaction with the president - an opportunity that no reporter can refuse, especially given this White House's press-shy approach. If the president himself is unavailable, "sometimes you talk to his friends who are in his part of the motorcade, or members of Congress," says Ed Chen, who covered the White House for seven years for The Los Angeles Times. "If you really put your mind to it, you can pick up stuff most of the time."

On my latest pool day, April 17, the president traveled by motorcade to Sterling, Va., for a tour of a stone countertop company and a roundtable discussion on the economy and taxes. During most of the proceedings, the pool was held away from the action - except for this reporter. Just before the roundtable began, a press aide told me I could observe the session, and he showed me to a seat off to the side, near the newly minted chief of staff, Josh Bolten.

Bush was relaxed and upbeat, declaring the small-business sector "vibrant" and drawing out the employees of Europa Stone Distributors and guests on their careers. At one point, the president invited Treasury Secretary John Snow in on the discussion. Mr. Snow started rhapsodizing about the economy, when Bush interrupted him: "By the way, he has a PhD!" It was one of those moments that showed the president's waggish side.

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