Poker Metaphors and the Showdown at Kennebunkport

According to the news coming out of Kennebunkport, President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin spent their time together this weekend bass fishing, dining on lobster and blueberry pie, riding Segway scooters, and discussing anti-missile facilities in Europe.

But a look at the language that emerged from the dressed-down summit points to yet another activity: playing poker.

Washington Post reporter Peter Baker first dealt the familiar metaphor back in May:

President Bush yesterday launched a high-stakes effort to repair the dramatically deteriorating U.S. relationship with Russia by inviting President Vladimir Putin to visit the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, after weeks of rhetoric reminiscent of the Cold War.

And in today's Post Baker deftly handed the cards to the Russian leader:

"The deck has been dealt, and we are here to play," Putin said as he stood at Bush's side overlooking the rocky coast at the Walker's Point compound. "And I would very much hope that we are playing one and the same game."

Soon afterward, a Reuters report in The New York Times pursued the metaphor:

Putin raised the ante on Monday with suggestions to incorporate a radar system in southern Russia and bring more European nations into decision-making on missile defense under the umbrella of the Russia-NATO Council.

Rhetorically speaking, none of this is really news. After all, for the past eight years the mandatory journalistic epithet for Vladimir Putin has been "poker-faced, no nonsense ex-KGB agent." And it now seems all but impossible to discuss negotiations of any kind without resorting to poker metaphors--or, as some might judge them, cliches.

How did the game turn out this weekend? It was an AP reporter who commented, predictably, "But with all Bush's efforts, it was Putin who appeared to leave Kennebunkport with the upper hand."

More About Metaphors . . . and Cliches:

• Using Similes and Metaphors to Enrich Our Writing
• A Surge in New Cliches
• Cliche Sites for Writers and Editors

Image: President Vladimir Putin and President George W. Bush (White House photo by Eric Draper)