Bush's Cocaine Question And The Drug War
ariannaonline.com
Bush's Cocaine Question And The Drug War
Filed August 23, 1999
At last, a campaign issue everyone agrees on -- George W. blew it. And, no, we're not talking about some long-gone Peruvian powder he may or may not have inhaled in his youth. We're referring to his woeful mishandling of the cocaine question. It's not just what he wouldn't say, but the way he wouldn't say it.
Bush started by digging an impenetrable Maginot Line in front of rumors about his drug use. But it didn't take too much press persistence before he sounded retreat faster than Corporal Agarn on ``F-Troop,'' lobbing lame, Clintonesque evasions as he scrambled for cover. He swore he'd not used drugs for seven, no, 15, no, make that 25 years -- but wouldn't go farther than that. (Man, that must have been some 28th birthday party!)
And while admitting to having ``made some mistakes'' and learned from any mistakes he ``may or may not have made,'' Bush failed to recognize his biggest mistake of all: fumbling his chance to be the first politician in the post-bimbo-eruption era to take the principled position that his private life is just that -- and mean it.
But all is not lost. In fact, the governor has the chance to dramatically alter the dynamic of campaign 2000 by seizing the moment and turning a personal negative into a positive act of political courage and moral leadership.
The important drug question is not ``What did George sniff and when did he sniff it?'' |
