Chris Lehane: DWI Story Cost Bush Popular Vote

NewsMax.com ^ | Wednesday June 19, 2002; 12:19 p.m. EDT | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[Ditter]

How can a rational thinking person be so unsure of which party they will support in the last 2 days of a huge national campaign, that they will switch their vote over something this small ??????

[Let's Roll]

Getting it out early is key. I know many liberals who couldn't believe it was even an issue so many years after the fact - those who practice an anything goes lifestyle find that pretty tame stuff.

IMO with more time to reflect that would have been the reaction of most undecideds but with only a few days left they let their emotions effect their vote.

[Howlin]

No, you posted two pieces of crap with specious articles. Hardly mainstream.

And yes, you did MENTION Ann Coutler saying "So Bush had a DUI 24 years ago, stole a hotel wreath as a fraternity prank and got rowdy at a Yale-Princeton football game in college? Fine" but you didn't produce a SOURCE for that quote, now, did you, which puts us in the position of having to decide whether YOU are a credible source or not, and judging from your other posts on this forum, I'd say you're here with ill will in your heart.

And if that is, in fact, from Coulter, can you not READ??? College pranks? A wreath and a football game?

Do you possibly consider those ARRESTS that warrant the kind of distain you posted in your original reply?

Shall we take a look into YOUR past life, or are you yet another perfect conservative come along to pass judgment on your fellow Republicans?

[Howlin]

IMO with more time to reflect that would have been the reaction of most undecideds but with only a few days left they let their emotions effect their vote.

Oh, don't forget to factor in the holier-than-thou conservatives who immediately decided Bush was the devil himself for that SIN. They didn't vote for him either.

[BlackRazor]

No source. This statement was based purely on my memory of personal observations and impressions at the time. I remember being upset with Bush at that time. As another poster indicated in Message 54, perhaps I was duped by the media coverage of the two campaigns. But I seem to remember Bush heading back to his ranch for a day off during the final weekend before the election. Meanwhile, I distinctly remember the coverage of Al Gore's pre-dawn rallies in Florida, etc, and how he was not getting any sleep, etc. I will try to find a confirming source this evening - I'll post if I find something.

[Howlin]

I'm not hiding from anything; do you see me deny it? You are the one who insinuated he should burn in hell for college pranks and a drunk driving ticket -- which is what that was back then, in case you don't know. It wasn't quite the big deal it is today.

[Howlin]

You are so right! It, of course, had NOTHING to do with the Gore campaign though. /sarcasm off.

[Howlin]

And I'll try to find something, too. I do seem to remember Bush going to the ranch, but I thought it was a week or so before. We'll both check to get the facts right, okay?

[Brookhaven]

GW Bush has a DWI from 3 decades ago and bottom feeders blast fax it?

Remember, the typical voter doesn't get very far past the headlines. The headlines were reading "Bush Arrested for DWI". Only if you took the time to read the story did you find out it was 30 years ago.

It was well known that Bush not only had a drinking problem, but that he was pretty wild (pary wise) earlier in his life. A DWI fit right in with that pattern. He had turned around his life and put all that behind him. The headline put doubts in some people's minds that he had really put all that behind him (because there was no time frame of when the DWI occurred in the headline.)

Had the Bush people put all that on the table early in the campaign, it would have been a non-issue.

[RedWhiteBlue]

That is exactly right -- there was NO arrest in the drunk driving incident. In 1976, the penalty was a ticket -- a moving violation.

[TC Rider]

Chris Lehane is a little puke.

And strangely enough, he is a little puke from Kennebunkport, Maine. Imagine that.

[TC Rider]

Tom Connolly.............

Oh Gawd, the hat, the hat, ...

I had managed to forget about that stupid damn hat.

Till now.

[Howlin]

I am simply saying that you FELL for the Democratic spin on this one; granted, Bush should have come forth with it sooner, but, IMO, he had a valid reason not to -- his daughters.

And in 1968, a DWI was NOT a serious charge.

And if it bothered you so much, you shouldn't have voted for him.

[TC Rider]

George W. Bush was responsible for the effect of that story. He should have 'fessed up MONTHS before. Anyone with a brain knew the Dems were looking for any dirt and would wait till the most opportune time to use it. They were the opposition....it was their job and they did it well.

My recollection is that it had come out in a long form PBS interview that Bush had done months before. I agree it's important to get it out, but Rove didn't need to wave a flag about it.

It really points out the lazyness of political reporters that the facts had to be shoved under their noses before they jumped on it.

[Howlin]

We are old, eh???.........LOL. Many of my friends got them in Chapel Hill!

[TC Rider]

The third arrest -- a fairly serious crime -- drunk driving.

Seriously? A fairly serious crime?

Not at the time in America. In fact, in the sixties you could drive drunk in New England, race off a bridge, watch your date drown, and not do anything about it till the next day. Lie about it, get off scott free and go on to become a leader in the Senate.

Bush was actually stopped for driving to slow. Let's not ascribe today polital correctness to events that happened 30 years ago.

BTW, welcome to FreeRepublic. If you are going to throw firebombs, be prepared to source them.

[TC Rider]

The Guardian? You forgot the part about the Bush family supporting the Nazis in WWII.

I'll give you the same comment I used to get for sourcing 'The American Spectator' on Dem sights.

"You can't be serious, they are all known Bush haters."

[CaptRon]

Chris Lehane gives this more credit than it deserves, probably because the idea sprang from his demented and atrophied little mind.

Most people I know recognized it for what it was. I don't believe it had any significant effect.