Bush Campaign Accuses Democrats of Dirty Tricks
November 3, 2000 11:24 am EST
By Steve Holland
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Reuters) - Republican George W. Bush stumped in the key battleground state of Michigan on Friday, with his campaign accusing the Democrats of "dirty tricks" over disclosure of Bush's 1976 drunken driving arrest.
Aides were optimistic news of the incident, revealed on Thursday, would not cast a harmful cloud over Bush's campaign heading into the final days before the election next Tuesday.
"I think the American people are tired of this kind of 'gotcha politics,"' said Bush campaign spokeswoman Karen Hughes. "They're tired of this kind of last minute dirty tricks and I think the Democrats owe the American people an explanation."
"I find it interesting that in the closing days of this campaign, the Democratic candidate for governor of Maine has now admitted that he is the one who released this information to the public and to the media ... about something that happened 24 years ago," she said.
Hughes was referring to reports that the 1998 Democratic nominee for governor in Maine, Tom Connolly, had said he was responsible for releasing the information about Bush's 1976 drunk driving record.
BUSH AHEAD IN THE POLLS
Hughes said Bush had been open in the past about mistakes he had made.
"Throughout this campaign he has been very forthcoming with the American people that he made mistakes as a youth, that he did things as a youth that he is not proud of. He has been very open about that," Hughes said.
Bush is leading in the national polls over Democratic Vice President Al Gore by three or four percentage points but still has ground to make up in key states, including Michigan, to win the presidency.
The Texas governor appeared before reporters at the Wisconsin State Fair grounds on Thursday night to try to confront the drunken driving issue quickly. He admitted the incident happened and questioned the timing of the disclosure of the information.
"I have my suspicions," he said, without pointing the finger at the Gore campaign, which denied any role in leaking the news.
In stops in Grand Rapids and Saginaw, Michigan, Bush was to outline his remedies for repairing what he calls a weakening of the U.S. military under the current administration of President Clinton.
He was to be joined by retired Gen. Colin Powell, mentioned frequently as a secretary of state in a Bush administration.
Bush's visit to Grand Rapids was not without controversy. The Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for gays and lesbians, said the site of his first rally, Cornerstone University, is a Christian-oriented school that bans homosexuality.
"The message he sends by going to this school is that he condones this practice of discriminating against gay and lesbian students ... as well as gay-and-lesbian Christian students who choose to attend a school of their faith," said David Smith, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign.
The Bush campaign said Bush's appearance at the school was no different than places where Gore and his vice presidential running mate, Joe Lieberman, have visited.
"Just like the vice president and Joe Lieberman, the governor has visited faith-based organizations and he recognizes that the American tradition allows these groups to maintain their traditions and they do so in tolerant ways," said Bush campaign spokesman Ari Fleischer.
DRUNKEN DRIVING ARREST OCCURRED 24 YEARS AGO
Bush, now 54, was 30 at the time he was arrested on Sept. 4, 1976, with Australian tennis player John Newcombe and three other people in Kennebunkport, Maine, where the Bush family has a seaside compound. He was not put in jail but rather was released on his own recognizance.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence and paid a $150 fine. His drivers license was suspended for 30 days.
"I'm not proud of that. I've often said that years ago I made some mistakes," Bush told reporters. "I regret that it happened. But it did. ... I stopped drinking 14 years ago and I haven't had a drop since."
The incident had been a closely guarded secret. When the news broke on television, Bush's wife, Laura, phoned their daughters Jenna and Barbara to break the news to them.
Asked why he had not disclosed the incident earlier, Bush said: "I didn't want my girls to do the same thing. I'm not trying to get away with anything. I didn't want to talk about this in front of my daughters. I didn't want them drinking and driving. It was a decision I made."
Bush's running mate, former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, was twice arrested for drunken driving in the 1960s when he was in his early 20s at Yale University.
"It came out in 1989 when he was being confirmed as secretary of defense. He told the committee. It was widely reported at the time," said Cheney spokeswoman Juleanna Glover Weiss.
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