The night, or “nite” as it is spelled in White House memos detailing the proposal, would take place on Wednesdays in bars across the country and would offer rebates to women voters in the form of free beverages and bar snacks.
Confronted with poor poll numbers among women voters, Bush huddled with Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who helped him develop the “Ladies’ Nite” plan.
In addition to free drinks and snacks, the Wednesday-night rebate program will include a variety of contests in which women voters will be invited to “strut their stuff” for additional prizes, according to one insider.
“Basically, it’s a good way to remind women voters that the president cares about them and to take their minds off of all of the oil drilling and coal burning he wants to do,” the insider says.
Some in the Bush administration have criticized the plan for being out of touch with the real concerns of women voters, arguing that only middle-aged white men were involved in devising the program. Others, however, dispute this contention.
“It’s not just a bunch of guys who were behind this,” says the insider. “Jenna and Barbara were very involved, too.”
