GOV. BUSH DENIES ILLEGAL DRUG USE IN LAST 25 YEARS

Politics: GOP frontrunner's qualified responses to rumors he did cocaine is
first rough patch of campaign.

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

But rather than resolve rumors about his admittedly hardpartying past,
Bush's circumscribed statements renewed speculation about his personal
conductand a debate over the bounds of legitimate press inquiry. Bush's
qualified commentsthe first significant controversy of his campaignalso
drew comparisons to President Clinton and his habit of dribbling out denials.

Speaking to reporters in Roanoke, Va., during a stop at a youth center,
Bush said Thursday he could clear a background check going back 15 years
from his father's years in the White House, including questions about past
illegal 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.

Just a day earlier, in an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Bush had
declared himself drugfree for at least the last seven years.

His explicit, if calibrated, denial of drug use over a specific period of
time marked a turnabout for the GOP presidential frontrunner, 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 up until this week, Bush had repeatedly and sometimes
heatedly refused to answer specific questions regarding rumors of cocaine use.

That changed when the Morning News asked whether, as president, Bush would
insist that his appointees answer druguse questions contained in the FBI's
standard background check.

"As I understand it, the current [FBI] 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
last 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 followup 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."

Instead of quashing widely whispered rumors about his past, however, Bush's
statements drew intense new focus to the unsubstantiated allegations of
drug useand criticism from supporters and opponents alike, who compared 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
antiClinton, but he's looking more like Clinton."

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

As Texas governor, Bush endorsed several antidrug 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 Hanford Dole said after being peppered with questions as she left
a fundraising lunch in Irvine. "That's his personal life."

Sen. John McCain of Arizona 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."

Privately, however, rival camps took no small delight in watching Bush
encounter the first rough patch of a seemingly effortless campaign. "Seven
years. Fifteen years. Twentyfive years," one opposition strategist scoffed
in reference to Bush's shifting statements.

"Republicans are sick of Clinton," said another rival strategist. "The more
they see of Bush, the more they're going to see Clinton."

By coincidence, a survey released Thursday showed support for Bush slipping
somewhat in New Hampshire, the first primary state. The poll by the
American Research Group, an independent firm, suggested that Bush received
little benefit from his victory in last weekend's Iowa straw poll: Bush had
40% support in New Hampshire, down 7% from last month, compared with 16%
for McCain. The rest of the ninecandidate field registered only in single
digits.

"In Iowa he went from phenom to frontrunner," said one GOP strategist,
unimpressed with Bush's 31% showing in the mock election. "Now this
controversy takes him down another notch because he looks inconsistent and
different from how he wants to portray himself."

At the same time, the contretemps renewed the quadrennial debate over the
boundaries the media should observe in exploring the private lives of
presidential candidates.

Edwin Guthman, a professor of journalism at USC and former Los Angeles
Times national editor, suggested Bush helped create the controversy by the
way "he waltzed around the question" of drug use.

"The best thing in politics is to tell the truth and get on with it,"
Guthman said. Even so, he suggested the cocaine controversy "doesn't need
the kind of attention it's getting beyond that. Unless it relates to [the
candidate's] performance in office, it seems irrelevant."

Inside the Bush campaign, the attitude was much the same. "You can put in a
notverylarge phone booth the people who are going to be concerned about
this," said one senior advisor. ". . . There is a sense of 'enough of this'
that resonates with people, and that's what [Bush] is reflecting."

Recent polls have suggested some ambivalence on the part of the public. A
survey by Fox News/Opinion Dynamics found that 69% said they would want to
know whether a presidential candidate had used cocaine in the past. But
only 17% said cocaine usage should disqualify a candidate; 72% said a
candidate should be forgiven.

[Sidebar:]

WHAT HE SAYS: Quotes from Texas Gov. George W. Bush in response to
questions Wednesday and Thursday about illegal drug use:

"Somebody floats a rumor and it causes you to ask a question, and that's
the game in American politics, and I refuse to play it. That is a game. You
just fell for the trap. I refuse to play. They're ridiculous and they're
absurd, and the people of America are sick and tired of this kind of
politics. And I'm not participating."

At a news conference Wednesday in Austin, Texas "As I understand it, the
current [FBI] form asks the question, did somebody use drugs within the
last seven years, and I will be glad to answer that question, and the
answer is no."

As quoted Thursday by the Dallas Morning News

"I don't want to send a signal to children that what I may have done is
OK." Columbus OH news conference, Thursday.