Bush Twins Get a Little Payback in Prime Time

New York Times ^ | 09/01/04 | JODI WILGOREN

[conservative in nyc]

Bush Twins Get a Little Payback in Prime Time

By JODI WILGOREN

Published: September 1, 2004

aybe girls do just want to have fun. The Bush girls, at least.

Forget four years of shunning the spotlight. President Bush's twin 22-year-olds, Jenna and Barbara, strutted into it last night with a sassy, sexy serenade to their parents at the Republican National Convention, every wisecracking word broadcast live on national television. They spared no one.

"She thinks 'Sex in the City' is something married people do, but never talk about," Jenna, the blonde, razzed her grandmother, Barbara Bush. Jenna was referring to the HBO program "Sex and the City."

Mrs. Bush's namesake, the brunette, said of her alma mater, "When your dad's a Republican and you to go to Yale, you learn to stand up for yourself."

And dear old dad?

Jenna Bush took Mr. Bush's words about his own youthful indiscretions as her punch line. "We kept trying to explain to Dad that when we were young and irresponsible," she said as Madison Square Garden erupted in cheers, "well, we were young and irresponsible."

For a coming-out party, the girls were notably underdressed: Jenna in a shiny brown jacket over white T-shirt and jeans, Barbara in a sleeveless black dress with embroidered yolk. But they embraced that aesthetic, seeking to fill any coolness gap their father might face with the MTV set by mentioning OutKast and even its lyrics.

Mr. Bush's daughters have slowly been emerging as public figures in recent months, occasionally appearing on the campaign trail. "Since we've graduated from college, we're looking around for something to do for the next few years," Jenna said by way of explanation on Tuesday night. "Kind of like Dad."

The twins' turn yesterday at the microphone, part of the introduction of Laura Bush, brought the first public words many had heard from their mouths.

Barbara Bush took the teeniest slap at the opposition, invoking the story Senator John Kerry's older daughter, Alexandra, briefly stole the show with at the Democratic convention in July. Ms. Kerry described a dad so devoted that he dove off a dock to save her pet hamster from drowning.

"We had a hamster too," Ms. Bush said last night. "Let's just say, ours didn't make it."

[conservative in nyc]

I thought the Bush twins speech was on target for the audience they were trying to reach --- 18-29 year olds (females, in particular). Their pop culture references seem to have gone over some people's heads here, but it's exactly what those folks understand -- the twins were speaking their language. They meant no disrespect for their grandmother Barbara with their Sex in the City joke --- the looks on their grandparents faces prove they knew it.

Anyway, this article's not that bad for the Slimes.

[Howlin]

She hated that joke; don't ask me how; I just know.

[A Citizen Reporter]

"For a coming-out party, the girls were notably underdressed:"

I'll bet you ten bucks that the NYT's never noted in print that the Kerry daughter's "coming-out" party in Cannes included wearing a totally see-through dress. TALK about underdressed!

[cyborg]

LOL I love that pic

[A Citizen Reporter]

"Alexandra, briefly stole the show with at the Democratic convention in July."

Well I declare, I would just bet there are some NYT's staffers on this forum tonight. It sure sounds like the same material!

[Prime Choice]

I thought the Bush twins speech was on target for the audience they were trying to reach --- 18-29 year olds (females, in particular).

I dunno. My wife is 25 and she was highly annoyed by the Bush daughters. She said (and I quote), "God! They sound like a couple of airheads!"

Now bear in mind that my wife is as Conservative and Republican as they come (she's the daughter of a U.S. Marine) and she thinks the world of the President and First Lady. The same goes for me, yet I have to agree with my wife. I thought the Bush daughters was a low point in the convention...a real let-down after Governor Schwarzenegger's say-it-loud-say-it-proud speech.

[patriciamary]

Everyone should be talking about Arnold's great speech and Laura's genuine account, instead their talking about the Bush twins. It was an extremely bad PR move to let these girls speak.What was the RNC thinking?They should now by move the Republican can not make zero mistakes.First Bush's statement yesterday and the twins today.I am disappointed.We have the lead lets not hand it back to the Dem's

[patriciamary]

Sorry for my errors,they should know by now!

[cyborg]

Effin' isn't going to get a bump thanks to the Bush twins. Trust me.

[patriciamary]

The media will jump on anything that they can to put a negative spin on it!Then they are relentless.

[cyborg]

You're right about that.

[Kay]

Do you mean that Kerry will not benefit from the twins? Sorry, I don't understand your comment.

[Howlin]

His statement that we will never be able to win with ALL the terrorists? That they'll be around until the end of time?

Who didn't know that.

[kb2614]

I missed it because I was on my way to work. Read the transcripts and didn't see anything to silly. A little cutsie but thats it. I think some folks are blowing this out of proportion.

Of course I'm biased. They are pretty darn cute ;)

[cyborg]

exactly what I meant... I hear the sucking sound of Kerry's poll numbers.

[CWOJackson]

"It was an extremely bad PR move to let these girls speak. What was the RNC thinking?"

That the growing numbers of college students actually tuning in to politics might want to hear someone from their own generation speak?

[conservative in nyc]

I dunno. My wife is 25 and she was highly annoyed by the Bush daughters. She said (and I quote), "God! They sound like a couple of airheads!"

That's exactly the point. Today was a day for breaking the tired stereotypes on who is or should be a Republican. You had a self-made Austrian immigrant who came here with nothing yet made millions in acting and real estate before becoming governor of Cal-e-for-nee-ya. He tried to explain why legal immigrants and every-day hard-working Americans should be Republicans. You had the "Clueless" twins breaking the stereotype that all young Republicans are stiff, stuck up aristocrats, to get the youth vote. And you had First Lady Laura Bush trying to explain mainly to women voters why President Bush isn't an evil warmonger. Today's speeches weren't really directed toward the Republican base; they were meant to reach out to swing voters and women.

[MEG33]

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1137042/posts

Kerry's daughter and appropriate dress..

[Luis Gonzalez]

I thought they were irreverent, fresh, energizing, and full of everything we all felt when we were twenty-one, and thought that we owned the world.

I'm glad they were there.

I've followed these threads and read all the criticism of the Bush twins, and it struck me that they call it the Grand OLD Party for a reason.

[Kay]

Good point. But "Sex in the city" is such crap.