GEORGIA REPUBLICANS ENDORSE BUSH

ATLANTA (AP) _ GOP presidential contender George W. Bush claimed the
endorsements of Georgia's top Republicans Tuesday on the eve of a three-day
Southern swing. But there were fresh comments from one of them about drugs.

Though he endorsed the Texas governor, House Republican Leader Bob Irvin of
Atlanta said Bush should put an end to questions about illegal drug use. "I
think he ought to tell the truth and tell the full truth as soon as
possible," Irvin said.

Bush's Southern trip ends Friday in Atlanta after stops in South Carolina
and North Carolina.

Meanwhile, a new poll suggests Americans are no more interested at this
point in hearing about any drug use by Bush than he is in talking about it.

Four in five respondents in an ABC News poll released Tuesday said it would
make no difference in their vote if the Republican presidential candidate
continued to avoid questions about whether he had ever used cocaine. About
the same number said their vote would not change if it turned out Bush had
used cocaine in his 20s.

When people were asked whether Bush should answer the question of whether
he used cocaine when younger, more than half said he should not. About four
in 10 said he should.

Bush has said he hasn't taken illegal drugs in the last 25 years but has
refused to discuss the matter further. No one has produced any evidence of
illegal drug use by Bush.

Irvin, for one, said Bush should offer more details.

"Something somebody does a long time ago is a whole lot less important than
their behavior as an adult," the Atlanta lawmaker said. "So if the answer
is that he used it 25 years ago or 30 years ago and has not used it since
and that he's learned from that, among other things, then that would be OK
with me."

Statewide Georgia officials listed as Bush backers were state school
Superintendent Linda Schrenko, Public Service Commission members Stan Wise,
Bobby Baker and Bob Durden and Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine.

Nineteen of 22 Republican state Senate members and 33 of 78 Republican
House members also were listed as backers of Bush.

In the national ABC poll, Bush led Democratic Vice President Al Gore 49
percent to 37 percent. Among Republicans and those leaning Republican, Bush
had 56 percent while Elizabeth Dole was second with 14 percent and other
GOP hopefuls trailed in single digits.

The ABC poll of 1,031 adults was taken Thursday through Sunday and had an
error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.