Bush Bashing

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Bush Bashing

Michael BrusPosted Monday, Feb. 28, 2000, at 3:38 AM ET

Issue 1 is the Republican presidential race. Issue 2 is the Amadou Diallo verdict in New York City.

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Most pundits give lip service to the conventional wisdom about the GOP race--that it's still George W. Bush's to lose--and then proceed to dump on Bush. Cokie Roberts (ABC's This Week), Tucker Carlson (CNN's Late Edition), and Mark Shields (PBS's NewsHour With Jim Lehrer) opine that Bush's South Carolina win might cost him the Northeast. (Shields notes that Bush the Elder won both Pennsylvania and Michigan by over 25 points in the 1980 primaries.) Shields calls Bush's expenditure of $2 million in Arizona (where he lost by more than 25 points) an "act of arrogance or stupidity." On NBC's Meet the Press, Bush strategist Karl Rove explains the blunder: Most of the money was committed when the campaign expected Steve Forbes to be the chief competitor in Arizona (Forbes won the primary in 1996). Steve Roberts (LE) says that some congressional Republicans believe that only a John McCain presidential ticket can keep their party in power on the Hill. Even George F. Will (TW)--perhaps the most pro-Bush pundit on television--admits that Bush's campaign has been underperforming since August.

Two exceptions to the Bush bashing are Brit Hume and Juan Williams (both of Fox News Sunday), who chastise McCain for lying about his sponsorship of "Catholic Voter Alert" phone calls in Michigan. (McCain had originally denied sponsoring the calls, which reminded Catholic voters that Bush spoke at Bob Jones University; on TW, McCain admits to sponsoring the calls but defends them, arguing that they are factual.)

Two questions chewed over by the pundits: 1) When (if ever) will the GOP establishment abandon Bush? Bob Novak (CNN's Capital Gang), Bill Bennett (CBS's Face the Nation), and Paul Gigot (NH) think the final Bush firewall is in Virginia, which votes Tuesday. If Bush--who currently has a 7-to-10-point lead and the support of a popular Republican governor--can't win there, he can't win anywhere. 2) Can McCain win California (where he still trails by 2 to 1)? Most talking heads think that he has little chance of winning the state's convention delegates--which requires winning a majority of GOP primary votes. But Susan Page (LE) notes that with Al Gore beating Bill Bradley 5-to-1 in California, many Democrats and independents could vote for McCain at the last minute, which might give the Arizona senator a victory in the popular vote and provide momentum for other states.

Most pundits and guests--including New York Gov. George Pataki--do not challenge the justice of Friday's acquittal of four New York City cops in the Amadou Diallo shooting. George Stephanopoulos (TW) says that while the criminal acquittal was appropriate, a civil settlement would not be out of bounds. Brit Hume (FNS) predicts that no major politician will challenge the verdict, and George F. Will notes that the city's take-no-prisoners approach to fighting crime has helped minorities disproportionately--racial profiling is less of an injustice than epidemic murder and assault. But Michele McQueen (TW) questions the removal of the trial from the Bronx and argues that racial profiling assaults the dignity of the minority community, whatever it's alleged tradeoffs. And Juan Williams (FNS) says flatly that "there's no way" justice was served by acquittal. (To read analysis of the Diallo verdict in Slate, click here for a reaction by a New York City cop and here for a "Frame Game.")

Miscellany

Capitalizing on a gubernatorial confab in Washington, D.C., the chat shows feature governors of every stripe--Tom Ridge, R-Pa. (CG and MTP); Roy Barnes, D-Ga. (MTP); Jesse Ventura, I-Minn. (MTP); Jim Gilmore, R-Va. (FNS); George Pataki, R-N.Y. (LE); and Gray Davis, D-Calif. (LE). Note to GOP vice presidential search committees: Ridge is much more telegenic than Pataki. ... On MTP, Bush strategist Karl Rove and McCain strategist Warren Rudman appear on the brink of fisticuffs as they each accuse the other of being the worse mudslinger. ... Cokie Roberts throws some sharp questions at McCain on This Week. She challenges his label as a "Ronald Reagan conservative" by pointing out that his positions on California coastal drilling, tax cuts, auto emissions, and campaign finance are more liberal than the Gipper's were. McCain responds to each question with a variant of, if Reagan were around today, he'd support my position. Bill Bennett (LE)--who says that McCain would be a more effective presidential candidate than Bush--argues that comparisons with Reagan are self-defeating for the GOP. The party needs to appeal to the 2000 electorate, he advises, not the 1980 electorate.

Last Word

And it's true, John McCain and I are the reformers in the race. I'm the Democratic reformer. He's the Republican reformer. But with me, the independents get reform plus. I mean, there are real differences between John McCain and I, as the earlier conversation illustrated. I'm pro-choice; he is not. I'm pro-gun control; he is not. I want to protect the environment; he has a bad record. I'm making a major investment in education and health care, and he doesn't make any. I think that there's a real difference here. So when independent voters look at our two candidacies separately and say, other than reform, where do we want to take this country, I think I offer a stronger appeal to independents across the country.