Asleep At the Wheel

By JANICE CASTRO/

You know things are bad when folks at the White House joke about the good old days under Sununu. SAM SKINNER is taking some heat for the current drift at Bush Central. The White House chief of staff met with top Bush operatives last week to discuss leaks, a phenomenon with which some of those in the room certainly have a passing acquaintance. Assuring the group that he assumed none of them would ever leak, Skinner asked them to help stop unauthorized chatter. Some left the meeting shaking their heads. Many of the most damaging comments from Administration insiders of late have concerned the lack of a coherent Bush re-election strategy. Stopping the leaks won't solve the problem. While the Democrats are shooting it out, Bush's troops are concerned that he's wasting time and missing opportunities. Said one who attended the meeting: "There simply is no discipline. George Bush is probably going to win, but he'll win by default."

With reporting by Wendy Cole