Politics

Rating Bush's First Big Bump

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

August 18, 1999 / 2:18 PM EDT / CBS

All this week, George W. Bush has been cooking up a political recipe to deal with the mess that boiled up Wednesday in Texas, when he refused to answer questions about alleged cocaine use.

The Republican presidential contender's initial response to questions about past drug use, CBS News Correspondent Phil Jones reports, was to turn the issue into a press problem instead of his own. "Somebody floats a rumor and then it causes you to ask a question," he told reporters. "And that's the game in American politics and I refuse to play it!"

Hitting the campaign trail the next day, Bush heightened his stance. When a reporter asked if this issue would ever go away, he replied, "That depends on you. I tell you, the American people want it to go away."

A survey of 11 presidential hopefuls found that both of the Democrats - Vice President Al Gore and former Sen. Bill Bradley - have acknowledged trying marijuana. Eight Republicans said they hadn't used illegal drugs.

Tom Rosensteil is head of a journalism watchdog organization. He feels, "At this moment the subject is how George Bush, Jr., is responding to our questions. I know most voters don't care, and this is only marginalizing us as journalists."

In stages, and under repetitive questioning, by Friday the candidate who said he would not play "the Washington game" of responding to allegations about his past, had denied any drug use after the age of 28.

Bush's own demeanor may be adding to the controversy. "The sort of cockiness, the Texas in him, is gonna rub the Washington press corps," suggests Stephen Hess, a scholar on politics who thinks Bush's advisors will face a strategic question. "I wonder at what point they're going to say to themselves, 'hey, we better sand down the edges. He's appearing to be a little smarty!'" Hess laughs.

From some of Bush's strongest supporters, the spin is that he's weathered his first campaign storm. The candidate, they say, never wavered -- and is now back on message.