BUSH-DRUGS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As questions about past illegal drug use continue to dog
Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, some GOP rivals said
Sunday that he should answer them directly and get the issue behind him.

But at the same time, his competitors and supporters maintained that past
indiscretions, including possible use of illegal drugs, should not
disqualify the Texas governor or anyone else from becoming president.

Noting that Bush has addressed the issue partially, Sen. Orrin Hatch,
R-Utah, said Bush should "just answer the darn question and get rid of it."

"If there wasn't anything here, then George Bush should have just said there
wasn't," Hatch said on NBC's "Meet the Press".

"If there was, I think he, at this point, should answer it, get it behind
him, because the polls show most of the American people are forgiving,"
Hatch added.

There has been no evidence or credible allegation that Bush ever has used an
illegal drug, although he has admitted to formerly drinking heavily and
"mistakes" as a youth. Questioned repeatedly on the drug issue, Bush said
this past week that he had not used illegal drugs within the past 25 years,
but would not elaborate.

"He has a right to privacy," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., another GOP
presidential contender, who declined during an interview on CNN's "Late
Edition" to say whether Bush should address the issue further.

Conservative GOP presidential contender Gary Bauer said the candidates will
"have to answer questions that go to law breaking."

"I think anything that involves a felony, I don't see how you can get away
with" not answering such questions directly, Bauer said on "Fox News Sunday".

Former Vice President Dan Quayle, another rival for the GOP presidential
nomination, said he admired Bush for trying to draw a line by not discussing
his private life, but that "he now sort of opened the door a bit" and should
go further.

"Once he started talking about it, you really probably are somewhat obliged
to answer these questions," said Quayle, who appeared on ABC's "This Week."
Still, he called the issue of Bush's past indiscretions "a sideshow" in the
campaign.

Some Democrats agreed.

"It's whether or not he committed a crime. ... The voters are entitled to
weigh what he (Bush) did and make a decision on that," said Geraldine
Ferraro, a former New York congresswoman and Democratic vice presidential
candidate in 1984.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said the drug questions were
legitimate but that Bush did not have to be compelled to provide answers.

"I do think that the American people ought to hear a lot more about his past
and about his positions," Daschle said on CNN. "They haven't heard much yet."

But Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, a Republican and strong Bush supporter,
said his colleague had sufficiently answered the questions about drug use.

"I don't care what somebody did in college as long as he didn't kill
somebody," declared Keating, who also appeared on ABC.

Except for Bush, all of the GOP candidates have said unequivocally that they
never have used illegal drugs. Democratic rivals Vice President Al Gore and
Bill Bradley both have admitted to experimenting with marijuana during their
youth.

Republican Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, who has acknowledged using
marijuana and cocaine while in college, said the question of past drug use
- -- even if true in the case of Bush -- is irrelevant in the presidential
campaign.

"I see an incredible hypocrisy here," Johnson said on NBC. He added that he
didn't think the 78 million Americans who have tried illegal drugs "would
want to disqualify themselves from becoming president of the United States
or want to disqualify themselves from serving in public office."

Rep. John Kasich, R-Ohio, who abandoned the GOP presidential race and now
supports Bush, also decried "gotcha" politics that delves into a candidate's
past. "I don't think it's relevant in terms of the ability of George Bush to
be president," Kasich said on the same NBC program.

Meanwhile, a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll found that 72 percent of those
surveyed said experimental drug use while young should be forgiven, but 69
percent said they would want to know about a candidate's past cocaine use.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Separately, Republican Lincoln Chafee, who is seeking the Senate seat from
Rhode Island being vacated by his father, John, announced Sunday that he had
used cocaine during college. He said he made the disclosure in part because
of the media pursuit of Bush.