What if Bush Did the Things Obama Is?

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," October 28, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And tonight in "Your America," the special treatment that Barack Obama received during the presidential campaign has no doubt continued throughout his first year in office and a great job goes out to Politico.com for shining the spotlight on this ultimate double standard.

Now the Web site has asked a very important question. What if? What if George W. Bush had done some of the very same things that Barack Obama has done as president? Like, for example, the fact that Barack Obama has spent less than four hours on the ground in New Orleans since he took office?

Well, what if George Bush did that? Or how about the 22 fundraisers that President Obama has already headlined? Did you know that, by contrast, in his entire first year in office, George Bush appeared at only six political fundraisers.

And then there's the subject of golf. Well, Michael Moore and his left- wing pals slammed George Bush for hitting the links during his time as president, but did you know that Barack Obama has already tied George Bush for the total number of rounds of golf that he played during his entire presidency?

Now the glaring double standard that exist here is nothing short of incredible.

And I'm joined now by former White House communications director, Nicolle Wallace, and Democratic pollster, Fox News contributor, Doug Schoen.

• Video: Watch Sean's interview

Double standard, Doug?

DOUG SCHOEN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes. I think there is. But the reason we have a double standard is because the Obama administration has been very successful in courting the press. The press is their political base. They focus on optics. They know that if they lose the press, they lose their presidency.

So Sean, it's no surprise there is a double standard because the Obama administration understood if they didn't keep the press on their side they couldn't govern.

HANNITY: I look at the press as almost an extension of the White House, you know, communications machine.

NICOLLE WALLACE, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, it is much more of an extension of the Obama administration than Fox News is of the Republican Party. I mean, and the irony of their attack on this network, you know, made me fall off my chair laughing.

I mean the mainstream press I think is suffering from its lowest point of public confidence in history in part because the public does not see them as an effective watchdog over the White House.

HANNITY: You're a Democrat. You're an honest Democrat. This is fawning coverage that he gets — George Will made this point over the weekend and it stuck with me. It's like, nobody has the right to — nobody in the Obama White House has the right to complain about their coverage.

SCHOEN: Of course they don't, Sean. But the whole.

HANNITY: But they are! They're whining like a bunch of big crybabies!

SCHOEN: But it's a game. It's all part of the game. They believe that you reward your friends, you punish your enemies. It's a divide-and- conquer strategy to mobilize the base. That's what they're doing. That's their strategy and it's not working so badly from their point of view.

HANNITY: Do you think.

WALLACE: Well, I don't think it's working that well. I mean their approval numbers have dropped I think close to 30 points since the inaugural address. And I think they will continue to erode.

I think that something that contributes to all this is that the press is always hostage to a narrative. And I think the narrative that's shaping up for Obama may take longer to seep into the public consciousness.

HANNITY: It is seeping.

WALLACE: It is seeping and it is really simple. Hypocrisy, ugly Chicago politics and radical liberalism.

HANNITY: And broken promises. I agree with all. I think — wait a minute. I think she's on to something. I think that is — the narrative is changing and it's taking time because I think the American people, unlike me, I made my decision a long time ago.

SCHOEN: I know.

HANNITY: I think the American people have been very fair.

SCHOEN: Right.

HANNITY: ... in giving him an opportunity. But I think what Nicolle is pointing out here is dead on. That is the picture that is emerging.

SCHOEN: I think it's a little bit different and it's what you were talking about before, Sean. If the White House cannot get a broad-based health care with close to 60 votes, if they go public option, 51 votes on reconciliation, then what Nicolle was talking about I think will come to the floor – come to happen.

HANNITY: So what Democrats are going to oppose it? I mean we seem to see a few moderate Democrats emerging. What Democrats are going to say no?

SCHOEN: I think you have — obviously Lieberman has spoken out.

WALLACE: God bless him.

SCHOEN: Ben Nelson has made it clear he's skeptical. Blanche Lincoln is skeptical. Mary Landrieu is potentially skeptical. Evan Bayh is undecided. There's four or five votes there. You have obviously Olympia Snowe.

But to my way of thinking, Sean, if they can't keep their consensus together of 60 votes, then the view of a White House that hasn't gotten anything done and is mean-spirited and petty I think will come to the floor. They need health care.

HANNITY: Does that mean this doesn't pass? I mean, is this a bill that can really be beaten? Because Barack Obama has put all his political capital into this.

WALLACE: Well, I think Republicans would have to worry if Obama addressed the nation and demanded he got a bill without a public option because the public has spoken on this. They do not support government-run health care. But I don't see any hints that Obama is going to make a move that politically courageous.

So, you know, I think Republicans would be —

SCHOEN: I agree.

HANNITY: I agree, too.

SCHOEN: If President Obama said I want a bipartisan bill, I want to do tort reform along with incremental health care.

HANNITY: Affordability.

SCHOEN: Yes, exactly.

HANNITY: Tort reform, all he said.

SCHOEN: It would resurrect his presidency. He'd jump 15 points, and you would have Chairman Baucus putting together a broad coalition.

HANNITY: Let me go over this one last issue of hypocrisy. And I asked Michelle Malkin about this in the last segment. It really bothers me if any Republican referred to any woman in the public, you know, specter as a "K Street whore," the president praised him in spite of all these controversial comments of Grayson.

What would the — what would the reaction be? That's all the country would be talking about today.

WALLACE: That's right. And I think this goes back to where we started. This goes back to the echo chamber in Washington that plays a really big role in shaping public opinion in informing people. People don't have time to sit and watch it in real time.

And I think it's not just the Obama White House, it's not just that the president stands for that. It's that the entire media — I mean he's held up by one of the other cable networks as a hero and that's disgusting.

SCHOEN: You know, Sean, that's right. We don't need to reward people with praise when they engage in political degration.

HANNITY: All right, but Obama praised him. Obama praised him.

SCHOEN: He shouldn't have done it. Sean, we need to have a president who governs the way he said he wanted to govern — bipartisan consensus, conciliation, lowering our tone. Our problems are too serious to do anything but.

WALLACE: And pay a political price for it.

SCHOEN: He will.

WALLACE: He's not going to get away with it.

HANNITY: I agree. I think incrementally. I think the American people are waking up slowly, not as fast as Sean Hannity. I want to say I was right. But his actions are reinforcing that I was right. One by one. You agree with that?

SCHOEN: Sean, sadly I have to agree now. He ran and offered the promise of reconciliation. We're not seeing it.

HANNITY: Guys.

WALLACE: Leading like Jimmy Carter.

HANNITY: He's going to be worse than Carter. There's my other prediction.

All right, guys, good to see you.

SCHOEN: Thank you.

— Watch "Hannity" weeknights at 9 p.m. ET!

Content and Programming Copyright 2009 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2009 CQ Transcriptions, LLC, which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, LLC'S and CQ Transcriptions, LLC's copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.