Last time I looked, the calendar still read 1999 but I'm having my doubts. Ever since George W. Bush set out on his exploratory campaign trail for president, I've been reading columns complaining that no one in the media seems to know what his stand on the issues are. Since he's running for President in the year 2000 and it's only spring of 1999, why the urgency?
I have a pretty good idea about what he stands for because I've checked his record as Governor of Texas by accessing his web site www.georgewbush.com. Why can't the political pundits do the same? Well, actually they do know the facts but hinting and speculating that George W. may be all flash and no substance is really about trying to deflate his meteoric front runner status.
It's much too early to endorse or reject any candidate and I'll wait until after the Y2K crisis has blown over in January 2000 before I'll wade in with an in-depth opinion. However, in deference to the e-mail I've been receiving asking for comments about George W. Bush, I will say this one thing. He is definitely not his father.
I thought that George Bush was a good president but a lousy campaigner. He is a genteel patrician with no taste for the rough and tumble, back stabbing world of presidential elections. He won in 1988 because Lee Atwater ran his campaign and if Lee had been in charge in 1992, Bush would have been reelected. Poor Bush was not as telegenic as the smoother Clinton and was even crucified for using the term ``Bozos" to describe Clinton and Gore. Considering the ammunition he could have used against Clinton his restraint was admirable. George W. is different.
What surprised me the most about his inaugural Iowa appearance was the realization that George W. is a real Texan! I had never heard him speak and forgot that he was raised in the Lone Star state so I was pleasantly taken aback by his Texas drawl. I also noticed beneath a congenial rather charming exterior, a glimmer of a street fighter ready to take on all comers.
I'm not sure if he is the architect of his cunning answers to reporters' queries or whether he has surrounded himself with savvy handlers but he is not likely to make any serious errors with the media.
While I've written before that I consider the term compassionate conservatism redundant, I must confess that listening to George W. expound on the issue, this political agenda may appeal to many Democrats. My sister Terry in California who voted twice for Clinton has expressed her lack of interest in Gore and is willing to consider Bush. His fluent Spanish can't help but impress the Hispanic community but if he looks like he's pandering to us this tactic may backfire.
After accessing the Bush web site I clicked on the link for a list of his accomplishments. The information available on these pages will answer any queries about his ability to govern. I found these pages very informative and his programs for education, prison reform, tax reduction are innovative and worth further investigation. George W. Bush is certainly a formidable candidate but I also greatly admire another candidate-Senator John McCain of Arizona.
There have been a couple of recent films involving the president as a main character; ``Independence Day'' and ``Air Force One.'' In both films, the president is a man of tremendous courage and ability whose heroism is of epic proportions. The current occupant of the Oval office pales in comparison to these fictional leaders.
In the person of Senator McCain, we have a man who has proven his courage to be on an equal level as the Hollywood characters. When John McCain, a Navy pilot, was first downed and taken prisoner in Vietnam, his captors offered to release him as a goodwill gesture since he was the son of a renowned admiral. McCain did not want to be a part of this propaganda ploy and refused stating that he would not leave without his fellow comrades. For the next five and a half years he was tortured and beaten daily.
Further evidence of his integrity and character was displayed by his response to an interview in a recent ``George'' magazine article that focused on the POWs now serving in Congress. Rather than relate his own individual horror story, he told of a fellow inmate who was tortured and beaten for stitching together an American flag out of scraps of napkins and clothing. After he was returned to his cell, bloodied and bruised from the beating, McCain reports that the first thing this inmate did was to pick up scraps and begin to stitch another flag.
McCain's humility and strong compassion for his fellow human beings makes him a long shot for the presidency but it would be nice if character and integrity become criteria for the 2000 race.
Both of these candidates are flawed human beings with past indiscretions which the press will exploit. Bush was a wild party animal in his youth and allegedly there are nude pictures of a drunken George W. floating around. John McCain's marriage broke up after his return from Vietnam because of alleged misbehavior and infidelity.
Will the 2000 race be scandal driven or will it be issue oriented? Considering the fact that Clinton was given a pass in 1992 because most voters believed that his questionable behavior was behind him, they are not likely to be as lenient this time around. I expect the race for president in 2000 will be riddled with scandals and sordid allegations. Surely we can wait till January before wreaking more havoc on this weary nation.