March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Bush responds to arrest> Social Security gaffe, OUI muddy campaign

George W. Bush and Al Gore swapped campaign trail accusations Friday about military readiness and Social Security, but their closely fought presidential race was thrown into commotion over the Texas governor’s 1976 drunken driving arrest and his belated response.

“I’ve made mistakes in my life,” the Republican candidate told supporters, “but I’m proud to tell you I’ve learned from those mistakes.”

“I have been very candid about my past,” he said four days before the election. “I’ve said I’ve made mistakes in the past. People know that. They’ve thought about that. They’re making their minds up now.”

Across the country, a high-powered cast of Bush backers accused Democrats of “dirty tricks” – prompting the vice president’s campaign to deny involvement in the disclosure of Bush’s arrest. Gore himself said, “I have no comment on this. I want to talk about the issues.”

And so he did, heeding aides who said neither candidate is safe from fallout if the episode is mishandled.

Racing through Missouri, Iowa and Tennessee, Gore unveiled a new twist on his argument that Bush is not ready for the White House. In disbelieving tones, he referred to comments Bush made Thursday regarding Social Security and said the Texas governor doesn’t even know the basics of the program.

“If Governor Bush doesn’t know that it’s a federal program, maybe that explains why he thinks it’s all right to take a trillion dollars out of the trust fund and play around with it by promising it to two different groups of people,” Gore said at an animated Kansas City, Mo., rally.

Defending his Social Security reform proposal, Bush told backers in Missouri a day earlier, “This frightens some in Washington because they want the federal government controlling the Social Security like it’s some kind of federal program. We understand differently though. You see, it’s your money, not the government’s money. You ought to be allowed to invest it the way you see fit.”

Afterward, spokeswoman Karen Hughes said Bush misspoke. The Gore campaign rushed out a new TV ad featuring Bush’s comment and closing with the words: “Is he ready to lead America?”

Appearing in Grand Rapids, Mich., Bush sought to keep his focus on why he thinks it is Gore who is not ready to lead. He said the vice president shares the blame for declining readiness of U.S. troops, and suggested that Gore had spent too long in President Clinton’s shadow.

“The shadow is back,” Bush added, referring to Clinton campaign activities.

Bush said troop readiness and morale had declined over the past eight years, promising 6,000 supporters jammed in a college gymnasium that “the days of decline will be over” if he’s elected.

State polls suggest the race to 270 electoral voters is unpredictable even as Bush holds a slight lead in national public opinion surveys. Some political scientists wondered if Bush might win the national popular vote while Gore captured the presidency with a majority in the Electoral College.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman told AP he thought the ticket would win, but was prepared either way. “I’m a realist,” he said.

GOP strategists did not think the drunken driving arrest itself would hurt Bush, but they feared the story could overshadow his campaign-closing message in favor of ending eight Democratic years in the White House. Tom Slade, former GOP chairman in Florida, said, “Anything that disrupts a candidate at this late date is not exactly welcome.”

Even the most partisan Democrats weren’t calling the incident a knockout punch. “People have seen much worse from politicians, starting with Bill Clinton,” said consultant Jim Duffy. “No undecided voter is going to wake up and see this and say, ‘Now I know who not to vote for.’ They’re still wondering whether Bush has enough brains, not whether he had too many beers.’

Bush himself alluded to the arrest, telling thousands of cheering backers, “It’s become clear to America over the course of this campaign that I’ve made mistakes in my life. But I’m proud to tell you I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

A cornerstone of Bush’s candidacy is Bush’s claim that Gore is not trustworthy, and GOP aides were concerned the public could believe that Bush lied to hide the incident or is covering up more damaging episodes in his past.

Throughout the campaign, Bush has refused to answer specific questions about his past, particularly about whether he used illegal drugs in the 1960s and early 1970s. Bush has said he quit drinking 14 years ago, when he turned 40.

Hughes said Bush had no other arrests besides the drunken driving case and an incident in which he was cited for stealing a Christmas wreath as a Yale student. She said Bush was also involved in a fight for which he was asked to leave a college football game for disruptive behavior.

Some advisers had known of the drunken driving arrest for months and, according to one account, had suggested he go public with it. Hughes said Bush decided to keep the matter private because he didn’t want his experience to set a bad example for his children.

Republicans reinvigorated their efforts to find embarrassing incidents in Gore’s past, pointing reporters to a 1968 incident that turned out to be a traffic ticket for speeding and driving without a license. Tennessee police Capt. Ralph Swift, who issued the citations that cost Gore $21.75, said in a telephone interview, “He took care of it as a gentleman.”

Asked about Republican murmurs that Gore once might have been arrested for drunken driving also, Gore told KCCI-TV: “Absolutely false. I’ve had speeding tickets, but no. Absolutely not.”

Even as they dug into Gore’s past, Republicans blasted Democrats for revealing the 1976 case. The source of the original story was Tom Connolly, a Portland, Maine, lawyer and Democratic activist.

“Most Americans are going to come to the conclusion that this is dirty politics. Last-minute politics,” Gov. Bush told Fox News. “I do have my suspicions” about the timing.

But Connolly was certainly not apologizing, telling The Associated Press, “It’s not a dirty trick to tell the truth.”

Gore’s campaign denied any involvement in the story, then dispatched Democratic allies to raise questions about Bush’s long silence on the matter. “The governor could have prevented all this if he had exercised good political judgment” and revealed the arrest sooner, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack told MSNBC.

Bush dispatched GOP surrogates to his defense: running mate Dick Cheney; former presidential rivals John McCain and Elizabeth Dole; Michigan Gov. John Engler; his nephew George P. Bush; his father, former President Bush, and his mother, Barbara.

“Much ado about nothing,” the former first lady concluded.

Try as they might, Bush and his staff couldn’t shift focus from the matter. Hughes was often mobbed by reporters. One scrum jammed the aisles of Bush’s campaign plane, forcing the pilot to delay takeoff.

Dallas Morning News reporter Wayne Slater told colleagues that he had asked Bush in September 1998 whether he’d been arrested any time since 1968 and that Bush had answered “no.” But Slater said the Texas governor also said, “Wait a second” and appeared ready to amend his answer when Hughes stopped the conversation.


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