Gov. George W. Bush’s well-orchestrated campaign for the White House is showing some cracks. A big one crept up last week during the governor’s Aug. 18 press conference at the Texas Capitol — the first chance in many weeks that the hometown media have had a chance to ask him questions. The videotape of that press conference, with Bush completely losing his temper at a question about his drug use, has been shown on national TV dozens of times.
But the video is a bit misleading. It doesn’t accurately portray why Bush was pissed. In the minutes preceding the drug question, Bush was hammered with questions on his handling of the Formaldegate scandal that has resulted in a whistle-blower lawsuit against the state and funeral home operators Service Corporation International. Nine times he was asked questions about the controversy by the Capitol press corps. He was asked about his interactions with SCI CEO Robert Waltrip, and whether he talked to Waltrip about the Texas Funeral Service Commission’s investigation into the gigantic funeral company.
With each question, Bush grew visibly angrier. And in each of his responses, he called the lawsuit brought by former TFSC executive director Eliza May “frivolous.” By the time he was finished, Bush had used the word “frivolous” 12 times. Yep, 12 times.
But in the midst of all that frivolity, Bush may have caused himself yet more problems with regard to the sworn affidavit he released on Aug. 5. “It was a 20-second conversation,” Bush said at the press conference of his interaction with Waltrip on April 15, 1998. By saying that, Bush directly contradicted his sworn affidavit which said he has “had no conversations” with SCI officials.
It’s funny, in a perverse kind of way, but with each passing day, Bush is sounding more and more like Bill Clinton. (Yes, we know, Maureen Dowd has already made this comparison.) Like Clinton, who wanted the Paula Jones case to go away, Bush is dying for the questions about the funeral scandal to stop. But just like Clinton, Bush appears to have been careless in his sworn testimony in a civil lawsuit. And that kind of carelessness gets politicians in trouble.
For Exhibit A, look no further than Clinton, who was impeached by Congress and fined $90,000 by a federal judge for being less than truthful in his testimony in the Jones case and the Monica Lewinsky investigation. Clinton declared, “I did not have sex with that woman.” He later parsed with prosecutors, asking what the “definition of ‘is’ is.” In a sworn statement, Bush said he “had no conversations” with SCI officials. However, at the press conference, he admitted he did have a conversation with SCI officials. Clinton didn’t have “sex” with Monica because it wasn’t “intercourse.” Bush didn’t have a “conversation” with Waltrip because it wasn’t “substantive.” Clinton didn’t inhale. Bush won’t say what he did.
And that has given Jay Leno some material. Leno jokes that Bush isn’t telling what he did because Bush has finally admitted, “I’m so high, I don’t know what the hell I’m saying.” The lampooning of Bush on the late-night talk shows is a harbinger of trouble. And it’s clear that the questions aren’t going to stop until Bush comes clean. And even then, if and when he does admit that he used cocaine, he’ll get hammered again.
The drug question may be indicative of a deeper problem: Bush himself. For all his joviality, he hates, really hates, hard questions. He likes to give reporters quick, glib, well-rehearsed answers, and then move on to the next question. On the rare occasion when he gets pressed on an issue, he gets flustered. Then he gets mad. The blowup in Austin has been scrutinized repeatedly, and people within Bush’s campaign are already talking about how “thin-skinned” their candidate is. It also has some conservatives wondering if the unthinkable may have started: the fall of W.
William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, told one columnist last week that if Bush’s campaign fails, “It could be an even more spectacular crash than we’ve ever seen before.” Seeing Bush crash may be wishful thinking. The most recent polls show Bush’s approval ratings haven’t been affected by the drug flap. —R.B.
This article appears in August 27 • 1999 and August 27 • 1999 (Cover).