OH NO, NOT AGAIN

Running On Partial Truth

George W. Bush, while acknowledging being irresponsible in his youth, has
this to say about the lurid details of what he did during that time:
Nothing. He refuses to talk about such matters.

To do so, he says, would only encourage smears, reward rumor-mongering and
deprive public servants of their privacy. The American people, he says, "are
sick and tired of this kind of politics, and I'm going to take a stand
against this kind of politics." Let other candidates answer prying questions
to appease nosy reporters. Bush insists on a dignified silence about his
personal life.

Not a complete silence, of course. He's not bashful about asserting that
after a hard-drinking youth, he gave up alcohol upon turning 40. He has made
no pretense to youthful chastity but says he has never been unfaithful to
his wife. And, if you really want to know, he will tell you that he
"accepted Christ" after a conversation with evangelist Billy Graham "planted
a seed in my heart."

But regrettably, few journalists are demanding to know exactly what Billy
Graham said to lead Bush away from sin. What everyone wants to know about is
whether he ever used cocaine or other drugs. And that's where Bush draws the
line. He says he's not going to itemize everything he did when he was sowing
his wild oats. So he absolutely refuses to respond to the drug question.

Well, not quite absolutely. He will address the question whether he ever
used illegal drugs in the last seven years. The answer is no. He will reply
when asked if he used them any time after 1973. The answer--surprise!--is no.

But when it comes to the period before that, he refuses to tolerate any
snooping into his behavior--though he did say, when asked if he used drugs
during his time as a fighter pilot in the Air National Guard, between 1968
and 1973, "I would never have done anything to endanger myself."

At the rate he's going, he will soon be saying, "I did not use illegal drugs
at any time between the day I was born until I enrolled in college. On
thousands of days between the ages of 18 and 28, I did not use illegal
drugs. What I did on Friday and Saturday nights in New Haven between 1966
and 1968, New Year's Eve of 1970, and the three days after Susie Williams
broke up with me in 1971, however, are no one's business but my own."

On the matter of his personal privacy, Bush is not guilty of just the usual
politician's sin--insisting that any personal failings are irrelevant to his
fitness for office even as he uses every chance to publicize his personal
virtues as a father, husband and friend. He goes even further, insisting he
is entitled to refuse to answer questions about drug use that could make him
look bad while happily volunteering to answer any that could make him look good.

You may think this is a matter of mere self-preservation, but no. Last year,
he explained his discretion as an effort to avoid leading the little ones
astray. "If I were you," he told a reporter, "I wouldn't tell your kids that
you smoked pot unless you want them to smoke pot. I don't want some kid
saying, `Well, Gov. Bush did it.' "

Hmm. Some kid can already justify getting drunk and having premarital sex by
saying, "Well, Gov. Bush did it." On these topics, Bush has no qualms about
saying do as I say, not as I did.

But drugs are different. When asked how people of his generation should
handle such issues with their children, he said, "I think a Baby Boomer
parent ought to say, `I learned from the mistakes I may or may not have
made, and I'd like to share some wisdom with you, and that is, don't do
drugs.' "

"Mistakes I may or may not have made"? "I would never have done anything to
endanger myself"? Bush's formulations are getting just a bit too artful.
What voters will soon conclude is that the only reason he refuses to discuss
whether he used drugs during certain times in his life is because he did.

Maybe that's what Bush wants voters to do, letting him defuse the issue by
making it clear he did use drugs without having to reveal what they were or
how often he used them. He's hoping Americans will decide 1) they know
enough about his past and 2) what they know doesn't disqualify him.

This plausible strategy was undone by the too-clever way Bush has addressed
the issue. A firm refusal to discuss drug use might have worked--but the
modified, limited hangout strategy won't.

Americans may not care if the governor shoveled mountains of cocaine up his
nostrils 30 years ago. They will care, though, if they think he's engaging
in slippery evasions that insult their intelligence. Another George Bush in
the White House may be all right with the American people. But not another
Bill Clinton.