Carter Attacks Bush for ‘Silliness’

Former President Jimmy Carter said in an interview published Sunday that Vice President George Bush gives a “kind of effeminate impression” when he tries to be “tough when he isn’t.”

Carter told the Gwinnett County, Ga., Sunday Daily News that Bush, who will become the Republican Party’s presidential nominee next month, has a “very serious problem of silliness” that will help the Democratic ticket in November.

“People don’t know where he stands or what his position on the issues is,” Carter said of Bush. “They don’t know where he was when decisions were made in the White House that were unpopular. He’s been wildly flexible in his basic philosophical stance during the last dozen years or more. People don’t even know where he’s from. He claims several states.”

Carter made the remarks to Hal Gulliver, an Atlanta attorney who, as editor of the Atlanta Journal 12 years ago, was with Carter when he was nominated.

“Bush’s effort at trying to improve his image contributes to the silliness problem,” Carter said.