Forbes Renews Attacks on Bush’s Character

Raising the character issue more sharply than ever in the Republican race, publisher Steve Forbes on Friday suggested Texas Gov. George W. Bush has failed to give a proper accounting of his admittedly “irresponsible” youth.

Bush brusquely dismissed the accusation, saying, “I’ve talked about all that I’m going to talk about.”

The cross-town exchange picked up where Thursday night’s face-to-face Republican presidential debate left off. Forbes--bolstered by the endorsement of New Hampshire’s largest newspaper--spent the day attacking the front-running Bush, who parried by sticking closely to the well-honed lines of his standard stump address.

Meanwhile, John McCain, who is running second to Bush in New Hampshire polls, steered clear of the back-and-forth, as he did in the debate. Instead, he touted the endorsements of 15 former Bush supporters who switched their allegiance to the Arizona senator.

The flurry came as Republican presidential candidates made a morning-after blitz of appearances across this politically crucial state, which hosts the first presidential primary in more than eight weeks. The debate, which seemingly did little to change the shape of the race, served as the template for a day in which participants sought to amplify and extend their remarks or otherwise tie up loose ends from the previous night.

At a Manchester news conference, Forbes resumed his debate with Bush over Social Security--and injected the character issue into a GOP contest that has grown increasingly testy in recent days. The multimillionaire publisher has produced a new ad attacking the governor for suggesting he would consider raising the Social Security retirement age. Bush responded Thursday night by quoting from a 1977 magazine column in which Forbes suggested the same thing.

Discussing their clash, Forbes told reporters Friday: “At least you knew what I was doing in my youth. I was writing magazine columns. Others haven’t been forthcoming about what they were doing.”

Bush, who admits to a hard-partying past, has steadfastly refused to elaborate beyond denying the use of illegal drugs since at least 1974, when he was 28. He has simply said, “I did some irresponsible things when I was young and irresponsible.”

When asked about Forbes’ remarks, the governor dismissed the question with a brisk wave of his hand and the statement that he would have no further statement. Asked why he supposed Forbes was raising the issue, which briefly flared last summer, Bush responded, “I don’t know. You need to ask him.”

For his part, the front-runner used a breakfast appearance to offer his stock campaign speech--touting his Texas record on everything from education to tort reform--to about 400 guests of the New England Council, a business group. Responding to a question from the audience--and taking up a matter he never got to during the debate--Bush said he favored a continued moratorium on taxing Internet commerce, at least until there has been more time to study the issue.

But afterward, speaking to reporters, Bush declined to clarify an ambiguous statement Thursday night in which he vowed to “take out” Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Asked how he would proceed, Bush twice refused to give specifics.

“That’s for Mr. Saddam Hussein to figure out,” Bush said. “He just doesn’t need to be building them.”

Bush also brushed aside Forbes’ endorsement Friday by the Manchester Union Leader, an influential, if waning, conservative voice in New Hampshire politics. In a stinging front-page editorial, the newspaper dismissed Bush as “a nice guy but an empty suit.”

“There was a little bit of that going on” in 1994 in his first race for governor, Bush said, when he was attacked as a lightweight by Democratic incumbent Ann Richards, whom he defeated. “The voters have got good wisdom,” Bush said. “They’ll make their judgment, just like the people of Texas made their judgment, loud and clear.”

Not far away, McCain was busy scooping up the endorsement of the former Bush supporters.

The unusual proceedings began when Rob Rabuck, a former state chairman of the Christian Coalition and Bush supporter, announced that he was switching sides. Standing with McCain outside a school in Pembroke, Rabuck declared: “I was disappointed by Gov. Bush. . . . He seems like an overly handled candidate . . . whose position papers are written by advisors.”

Former New Hampshire Rep. Leona Dykstra, another ex-Bush backer, chimed in: “Gov. Bush is too committed to the establishment, to the good old boy network.”

But when asked whether he agreed with the characterization of Bush as too packaged, McCain answered, “I do not.” Asked whether he considered Bush qualified to serve as commander in chief and direct the nation’s foreign policy, McCain replied, “Yes I do. I believe Gov. Bush is qualified, and I believe I am more qualified.”

McCain made his remarks after an enthusiastic town hall meeting, which drew about 1,200 people. McCain made a strong pitch for testing school vouchers, criticized Hollywood and video game manufacturers for releasing overly violent products, and pointedly assailed President Clinton’s foreign policy record.

“This is the first administration in history that had the president . . . the secretary of Defense, the secretary of State, a national security advisor, none of whom ever spent one minute wearing the uniform of the armed forces of the United States. My friends, that is going to change,” the Vietnam veteran said to loud applause.