Bush Denies Endorsing Fong for Senate

Recently, state Treasurer Matt Fong trumpeted what sounded like a major endorsement in his nascent bid to oust U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer.

“Bush’s California goal--get Matt elected to U.S. Senate,” crowed the headline of a Fong statement faxed to political supporters across the country.

“At a charity fund-raiser in Los Angeles last week,” the dispatch added, “former President George Bush said he had three political priorities left--help his two sons get elected to governorships in their respective states and electing Matt Fong to the United States Senate.”

Unfortunately for Fong, however, that’s not quite accurate. From the Bush camp came this message Tuesday--read his lips: The faxes are false.

“The president has never, ever endorsed in a primary,” said an aide to the former president, who nevertheless sought to minimize Fong’s embarrassment by blaming the misunderstanding on a staff-level mix-up.

Along with Fong, San Diego Mayor Susan Golding and car alarm mogul Darrell Issa are seeking the GOP Senate nomination. Boxer, elected in 1992, is unopposed on the Democratic side.

Asked about the mix-up, a Fong campaign spokesman said, “We never said the president endorsed Matt.” The campaign was “only sharing what we thought were very enthusiastic comments about Matt Fong,” said strategist Tony Russo.

In the event of an actual Bush endorsement, “We would have held a press conference and issued press releases,” Russo said.

Instead, Russo said, the campaign merely sent an “internal communication” to Fong supporters, state political writers and to the Political Hotline, a daily compendium of political news and gossip distributed to thousands of readers across the country.

As Russo recounted events, Bush was recently attending a charity gala for the Childrens’ Cultural Education Fund in Los Angeles when, noting the presence of Fong supporters in the crowd, he tossed off a few friendly remarks about the state treasurer.

Then, illuminating how these sorts of mistakes are made, Russo went on to quote Bush endorsing the presidential candidacy of his eldest son, George W. Bush--which not only contradicted the original statement from the Fong campaign, but also goes much further than George W. ever has in expressing his political ambitions.

George W. Bush is governor of Texas and a strong favorite to win a second term next year. However, he has studiously declined to discuss any plans beyond his reelection effort. Another of the former president’s sons, Jeb, is the overwhelming front-runner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in Florida, where he lost a close race in 1994 to Democrat Lawton Chiles, who plans to retire next year.