BUSH'S ANSWERS RAISE QUESTIONS

Republican Alters Course On Drug Queries

Texas Gov. George W. Bush, answering questions he assiduously and angrily
avoided for years, Thursday proclaimed himself drug-free for more than the
last two decades.

But rather than resolve rumors about his admittedly hard-partying past,
Bush's circumscribed statements renewed speculation about his personal
conduct -- and a debate over the bounds of legitimate media inquiry.

Bush's qualified comments also drew comparisons to President Clinton and
his habit of dribbling out denials.

Speaking to reporters in Roanoke, Va., during a campaign stop, Bush said
Thursday he could have cleared a 15-year background check during his
father's years in the White House, including questions about past drug use.
The period would extend to 1974, when Bush was in his late 20s.

"Not only could I pass the background check and the standards applied to
today's White House," Bush told reporters, "but I could have passed the
background check and the standards applied on the most stringent conditions
when my dad was president of the United States."

The senior Bush served as president from 1989 to 1993.

A day earlier, responding to a question from the Dallas Morning News, Bush
had declared himself drug-free for at least the past seven years.

His explicit, if calibrated, denial of drug use over a specific time marked
a turnabout for the GOP presidential front-runner, who as recently as last
weekend insisted he would not "play the Washington, D.C., game of gossip"
by answering such inquiries.

The 53-year-old Bush has often admitted to a venturesome past, including
heavy drinking until he swore off alcohol on his 40th birthday. He has also
declared himself faithful to his wife, Laura, throughout their 21 years of
marriage.

But until this week, Bush had repeatedly and sometimes heatedly refused to
answer questions regarding rumors of cocaine use, although his rivals for
the Republican nomination have all said they never used cocaine.

Bush's refusal to answer such questions changed when the Dallas Morning
News asked whether, as president, Bush would insist that his appointees
answer drug-use questions contained in the FBI's standard background check.

"As I understand it, the current form asks the question, `Did somebody use
drugs within the last seven years?' and I will be glad to answer that
questions, and the answer is, `No,' " Bush said.

On Thursday, Bush went further, essentially denying any drug use over the
past 25 years. Beyond that, however, he refused to say.

"I believe it is important to put a stake in the ground and say enough is
enough when it comes to trying to dig up people's backgrounds in politics,"
the candidate told reporters at a follow-up news conference in Columbus, Ohio.

"I'm going to tell people I made mistakes and that I have learned from my
mistakes," Bush said. "And if they like it, I hope they give me a chance.
And if they don't like it, they can go find somebody else to vote for."

But instead of quashing rumors about his past, Bush's statements drew
intense new focus to the unsubstantiated allegations of drug use -- and
criticism from supporters and opponents alike, who likened his carefully
crafted responses to Clinton's famous evasions.

For years Clinton ducked questions about drug use by saying he had "never
violated the laws of my country." Only when an interviewer asked during the
1992 presidential primaries about international laws did Clinton admit to
trying marijuana while studying abroad.

"It's Clintonesque," one frustrated Bush supporter said of the governor's
evolving approach to discussing his past indiscretions. "He wants to be the
anti-Clinton, but he's looking more like Clinton."

A Bush spokesman dismissed the comparison. "Far from it," said Scott
McClellan. "Governor Bush has said he has learned from his mistakes and
he's honest about it."

As Texas governor, Bush endorsed several anti-drug measures, including laws
that toughened penalties for people convicted of possessing or selling less
than a gram of cocaine.

Publicly, the governor's opponents sought to distance themselves from the
budding controversy. "I'm not going to comment on George Bush's life,"
Elizabeth Dole said after being peppered with questions as she left a
fund-raising lunch in Irvine, Calif. "That's his personal life."

Arizona Sen. John McCain was a bit more equivocal. "If it was my
preference, I would allow the governor privacy on this issue," McCain told
reporters after delivering a speech on technology issues in San Francisco.
"But I also understand that the media and the American people are the ones
that make that decision."

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch urged the Texas governor to put the cocaine issue to
rest once and for all. "I think he is going to be beaten to death with that
question until he finally has to answer it," Hatch said. "If he didn't use
cocaine, then say he didn't. If he did use it, then explain why he did, and
that it was a terrible part of his life, and show how he has overcome it."

Bush advisers believe that, in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the
public has little appetite for media inquiries about the private lives of
politicians, particularly in the absence of credible allegations, and they
argue that the current flare-up will die out within a week or two.

Bush has been the subject of repeated rumors involving drug use, but there
is no evidence to back them up. A number of news organizations, including
The Washington Post, have investigated the rumors and found no proof.

"If anybody is skating on thin ice on this issue, it's the media and not
the candidate," said Fred Steeper, a Bush pollster. He would not comment,
however, on whether he had done any polling on the issue.

Recent opinion polls show that the public believes that questions about
drug use by presidential candidates are legitimate, though they do not
regard the answers as highly relevant in determining a candidate's fitness
for office.

The Washington Post contributed to this article.

"I believe it is important . . . to say enough is enough when it comes to
trying to dig up people's backgrounds in politics," said George W. Bush,
when questioned by reporters in Ohio.