Home  |  Web Resources  |  Free Advertising

Change Your Life!

"Clinton trying to be political pundit": Bush

News
Sports
Chat
Travel
Dhaka Today
Yellow Pages
Higher Education
Ask a Doctor
Weather
Currency Rate
Horoscope
E-Cards
B2K Poll
Comment on the Site
B2K Club

Texas Gov. George W. Bush, left, waves as he and his wife Laura leave their campaign plane at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport Wednesday, July 2, 2000. Bush swept confidently into town Wednesday to collect the Republican presidential nomination, telling a cheering crowd, ``If all goes well, you're looking at the next president of the United States.'' Bush will address the Republican National Convention Thursday. (AP Photo/Chris Gardner)

August 3, 2000 

GETTYSBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) - Firing back at the White House, George W. Bush says the nation is "tired of the politics of personal destruction" and that he would uphold the same high standards set by former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and George Bush.

On the eve of his nomination as the Republican presidential candidate, Bush said he was "riled up" by President Bill Clinton's increasingly personal attacks.

"It's amazing to me that the president of the United States would spend time trying to be a political pundit," Bush told reporters aboard his plane. "He's so desperate to have his legacy intact by getting Al Gore elected, he'll say anything, just like Gore will."

Later, in a satellite address to the convention, Bush praised three former presidents, including his father. "They served with honor and set high standards that I will work hard to uphold."

Bush's father and Gerald Ford sat in the convention hall. Ronald Reagan, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, was represented by his wife, Nancy.

Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. George W. Bush shakes hands with supporters during a rally at the West Virginia War Memorial in Charleston, W.Va., Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2000. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Clinton belittled the Texas governor's campaign Monday, saying one reason he was in the running was because his "daddy was president." The elder Bush, who was defeated by Clinton in 1992, quickly stepped in, threatening to go public with his true feelings about the president "as a human being and as a person." If Clinton doesn't back off, he said, the family might unleash former first lady Barbara Bush.

The Gore campaign jumped in.

"He has to send his father out to defend him," spokesman Chris Lehane told reporters. "People are starting to wonder, does he have what it takes?"

Entering the fray, Bush broke a self-imposed ban on attacking his opponent by name.

"This nation is sick and tired of the politics of personal destruction; they want a uniter, not a divider," Bush said at a rally in front of West Virginia's Veterans Memorial. "This nation does not want four more years of Clinton-Gore."

During a rally Tuesday at the Pennsylvania Statehouse in Harrisburg, Bush told about 3,000 supporters that he would bring to Washington "an administration that will raise this country's sights, an administration that will have big goals for the nation, an administration that sets a positive, optimistic tone."

Before heading to Philadelphia and the Republican convention, Bush stopped in Gettysburg to pay homage to two of the party's most enduring heroes, Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower.

In his satellite address to the convention, Bush saluted Eisenhower's comments that there was "no such thing" as a Democratic or a Republican president.

"I seek to become president of all the people," Bush said.

He also praised two former rivals, John McCain for his "straight talk and strong convictions," and Elizabeth Dole, "a pioneer who is a role model for so many of our daughters."

Spokeswoman Karen Hughes said Bush took time out from campaigning to practice his acceptance speech before TelePrompTers in the living room of the governor's mansion while his senior aides and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge watched.