Politics

A Casual Bush Presses The Flesh

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 8, 2000 / 11:07 AM EDT / CBS

George W. Bush was fast out of the gate Friday with a new feel, if not a new look.

The morning after fellow Republicans' misgivings about his campaign were reported in The New York Times, Bush engaged with high-tech workers in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, taking their questions directly in an unscripted Q&A, a paper cup of coffee in hand.

It was a factory floor scene right out of the New Hampshire primary, minus the parkas. Bush shook workers' hands and chatted about the weather in Texas.

In response to the Republican complaints, or perhaps in recognition that Al Gore's pitch to the working and middle classes is touching a chord, Bush is getting out from behind the podiums and following Gore into the throng.

Bush wore a blue suit, white shirt and tie to the factory floor of Marconi Communications, but his carriage and speaking manner were casual. Workers in khakis and casual shirts threw him questions about Social Security-his campaign's message du jour-and the capital gains tax and his personal decision-making process.

Bush sold his plan for Social Security reform, which would offer individuals the option to invest some percentage of their benefit in the stock market, by assuring the workers that he's contemplating "safe" investments. "We're not going to let you put it in the lottery," Bush said.

Comparing his innovation to Gore's stay-the-course approach, Bush tried a line that he could have written himself: "Instead of bein' a retirement system that's goin' bust, it's a retirement system that's ro-bust!"

One worker asked Bush how he makes tough decisions.

Bush replied he gets all the relevant information, and "remember[s] the principles by which I'm grounded." Then, the governor, who disdains "psychobabble" and public self-revelation, went further, sharing this almost paternal advice, "If you stand on principle and listen ... you come out with the right answer."

He volunteered that "death penalty cases are tough because they're so emotional," and added, "I also take great solace in my faith, and great solace in my family as well. That's a part of decision-making, I think."

Maybe Bush has heard that Gore's booked on Oprah next week.

Bush defended his economic package, continuing the volley with the Gore camp that began in earnest earlier this week.

"The huge debate," Bush said, is all about the question, "Are we wealthy enough as a nation to share some of the surplus with the people that pay the bills?" His answer: "absolutely."

Gore gave voters a 200-page reading assignment this week when he released the details of his surplus spending package. Bush, by contrast, has perfected a four-part thumbnail sketch of his plan, which he frequently illustrates with dollar bill props, a buck apiece for each trillion dollars of the anticipated ten-year federal surplus.

Bush held the greenbacks uat an airport rally later Friday in sunny Springfield, Missouri, where he was greeted by 500 supporters, including country music group the Oak Ridge Boys.

In a rambling but forcefully delivered presentation that braided his most recent policy-oriented messages with tried and true applause lines from his primary season stump speech, Bush emphasized his tax cut plan and said the country would be better off with "a president that's willing to think differently about Social Security."

Pundits think Bush has been off his game during Gore's post-convention surge, but he appeared to be "on" Friday. The governor, whose flubbed lines, screwy syntax and bad budget math have provided material for editorial cartoonists and late-night comedians, recited from memory the details of how three different households would save under his Social Security and tax cut plans.

Bush cited an analysis of the Gore economic package by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation that "couldn’t determine the cost of [Gore’s] plan" because it was too "vague." Bush asked, "If the bean counters can't count his plan, how can Americans count on his plan?"

Having picked a fight with the vice president over debates, Bush now seems to be backing down from his my-way-or-the-highway stance. His top aides are making conciliatory noises and at the rally, Bush exclaimed, twice, "I look forward to the debates!"

Bush will spend most of the weekend on his ranch near Waco, Texas. He's bringing with him a thick briefing book to help him prepare for the debates.

He has already had several practice sessions, including one last weekend, in which Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., played the role of Gore.