'Little' Perino filling big shoes

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

One veteran reporter describes 5-foot-1-inch Dana Perino as "a little tiny thing," but the deputy White House press secretary brings to her job a big reputation for brains and the Wild West toughness of her native Wyoming.

Witness her recent exchange with Helen Thomas, who has covered every presidency since she followed the Kennedy campaign to Washington. When Mrs. Thomas, 86, kept firing questions at Mrs. Perino, 34, the presidential spokeswoman cut her off.

"Do you want me to answer the question, Helen, or do you want to ask questions? It's really hard to concentrate here. What's your question?" Mrs. Perino demanded.

Mrs. Thomas replied, "You repeat yourself so much that. "

"So do you," Mrs. Perino interrupted, then immediately called on another reporter.

Mrs. Perino is "the first press secretary to cut Helen Thomas no slack," said Ann Compton of ABC News, who has spent more than three decades as a White House correspondent.

Mrs. Perino has stepped into the press secretary's job while Tony Snow undergoes treatment for cancer.

"The microphone has not overpowered , even though she is a little tiny thing who needs to stand on a box just to see over the edge of the lectern," Mrs. Compton said.

Mrs. Perino said in an interview that she felt bad about the exchange.

"I really like Helen," Mrs. Perino said. She said Mrs. Thomas gave her a "big hug" after the March 27 gaggle when she announced that Mr. Snow's cancer had returned.