BUSH LOSES MOMENTUM AFTER DRUG QUESTIONS

Partial Answers Leave Political Pundits Baffled

WASHINGTON -- Why now? For months, George W. Bush successfully dodged
questions about whether he used drugs with an artful reply that he
acted irresponsibly in his youth.

His sudden decision to offer partial, unsatisfying answers is
baffling.

The hubbub over have-you-ever questions squandered momentum that Bush
had built with a convincing victory in Iowa's straw poll last
Saturday. It also exposed weaknesses that were ignored or unnoticed
while his campaign rocketed almost effortlessly to the top of the
Republican field.

The shift of strategy left veteran political consultants shaking their
heads.

"He didn't need to be talking about this," said Ed Gillespie, a
Republican operative. Even supporters who commended Bush for talking
about the subject said he did so clumsily.

By yesterday, he was back on message and would only say: "I told the
American people that years ago I made some mistakes. I've learned from
those mistakes."

After Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle suggested that Bush's
background was getting less scrutiny than President Bill Clinton's,
the questions started picking up. News organizations surveyed the
candidates about past drug usage. Bush, alone, refused to answer.

Though there is no evidence or credible allegation that he has ever
violated drug laws, Bush kept getting peppered with the questions. He
finally lost his cool during a home-state news conference. Levelling
dark accusations against unnamed rivals who "planted" the rumours,
Bush vowed not to answer the questions.

"The people of America are sick and tired of this kind of politics,"
he said. "And I'm not participating."

Hours later, he decided to participate, after all.

The Dallas Morning News wanted to know if he could answer the question
posed to federal employees in background checks: Did he use illegal
drugs in the last seven years?

Bush sought clarification of the question, which a senior adviser
later said was confusing. That gave him a little time to consider
whether to reply -- and how to frame his answer.

The adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush decided it
was fair to expect a candidate to answer the same question posed to
federal employees. And he assumed the headlines would be that he was
committed to federal background checks -- and would live by the same
standards.

The Bush team was surprised the next day when news reports focused on
him saying he hadn't used illegal drugs in seven years. That left open
the possibility that he had broken the law when his father was in the
White House.

A news conference Thursday allowed Bush to cast any past drug usage as
a more distant memory. He used a more stringent 15-year standard set
by the Bush White House.

In his opening remarks, Bush said he could meet the anti-drug
standards of his father's White House. At least one top aide thought
that meant he was ruling out drug usage for the last 15 years.

When a reporter asked whether he could have passed the test when his
father was president, Bush said yes.

It raised more questions.

What about when his father was vice-president?

Why not answer the question posed to current White House employees?
The FBI asks them if they used drugs since their 18th birthday.

Bush said he must draw the line somewhere.

Aides insist that will be the last Bush will say about the matter. But
he has already redrawn the lines. Seven years. Fifteen years.
Twenty-five years.

Bush may be able to finesse the drug issue throughout the campaign,
political consultants in both parties say. But the episode revealed
what can happen to a cautious, coached candidate when he is knocked
off message; he changed course twice in two days, lost his cool and is
still open to accusations that he won't play by the rules set for
White House workers.

Bush is still largely untried in a national campaign, when a new
crisis can emerge almost daily.

"You know what's next? Abortion. Let's watch him handle that under
fire one day," said Democratic consultant David Brown. "He's great
with smiling. He shakes hands well, but when it gets down to answering
tough questions, he's just not ready."