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"slavish devotion," Reagan wanted to keep the door open to his good friend, Senator Paul Laxalt of Nevada, whom Reagan apparently thought was getting ready to run for President. One can imagine Bush's rage and chagrin. Reagan stubbornly refused to come out for Bush until the endorsement could no longer help him in the Republican primaries. Reagan chose to wait until Super Tuesday was over and the rest of the Republican field had been mathematically eliminated. Reagan actually waited until Bob Dole, the last of Bush's rivals, had dropped out. Then Reagan ignored the demands of Bush's media handlers and perception-mongers and gave his endorsement in the evening, too late for the main network news programs. The scene was a partisan event, a very large GOP congressional fundraising dinner. Reagan waited to the end of the speech, explained that he was now breaking his silence on the presidential contest, and in a perfunctory way said he would support Bush. "I'm going to work as hard as I can to make Vice President George Bush the next President of the United States," said old Ron. There were no accolades for Bush's real or imagined achievements, no stirring kudos. Seasoned observers found Reagan's statement "halfhearted ... almost grudging." / Note #3 The Wimp Factor Reagan's endless reticence meant that Bush had to work especially hard to pander to the right wing, to those people whom he despised but nevertheless needed to use. Here Bush stooped to boundless public degradation. In December 1985, Bush went to Canossa by accepting an invitation to a dinner in Manchester, New Hampshire held in honor of the late William Loeb, the former publisher of the Manchester "Union Leader". We have already documented that old man Loeb hated Bush and worked doggedly for his defeat in 1980. Still, Bush was the "soul of humility," and he was willing to do anything to be able to take power in his own name. Bush gave a speech full of what the "Washington Post" chose to call "self-deprecating humor," but what others might have seen as groveling. Bush regaled 500 Republicans and rightists with a fairy tale about having tried in 1980 to woo Loeb by offering rewards of colored watchbands, LaCoste shirts, and Topsider shoes to anyone who could win over Bill Loeb. The items named were preppy paraphernalia which Loeb and many others found repugnant. Some of the assembled right-wingers repeated the line from the Doonesbury comic strip according to which Bush "had placed his manhood in a blind trust." Loeb's widow, Nackey Scripps Loeb, was noncommittal. "We have decided on a candidate for 1988 -- whoever best fights for the Reagan agenda," she announced. "Whether that person is here tonight remains to be seen," she added. / Note #4 Lawfully, Bush had earned only the contempt of these New Hampshire conservatives. In October 1987, when the New Hampshire primary season was again at hand, Mrs. Loeb rewarded Bush for his groveling with a blistering attack that featured reprints of Bill Loeb's 1980 barbs: "a preppy wimp, part of the self-appointed elite," and so forth. Mrs. Loeb wrote, "George Bush has been Bush for 63 years. He has been Ronald Reagan's errand boy for just the last seven. Without Ronald Reagan he will surely revert to the original George Bush." Mrs. Loeb repeated her late husband's 1980 advice: "Republicans should flee the presidential candidacy of George Bush as if it were the black plague itself." / Note #5 All of this culminated in the devastating "Newsweek" cover story of October 19, 1987, "Fighting the 'Wimp Factor.'|" The article was more analytical than hostile, but did describe the "crippling handicap" of being seen as a "wimp." Bush had been a "vassal to Kissinger" at the United Nations and in Beijing, the article found, and now even Bush's second-term chief of staff said of Bush, "He's emasculated by the office of vice president." To avoid appearing as a television wimp, Bush had "tried for the past 10 years to master the medium, studying it as if it were a foreign language. He has consulted voice and television coaches. He tried changing his glasses and even wearing contact lenses.... Bush's tight, twangy voice is a common problem. Under stress, experts explain, the vocal cords tighten and the voice is higher than normal and lacks power." According to "Newsweek", 51 percent of Americans found that "wimp" was a "serious problem" for Bush. The "Newsweek" "wimp" cover soon had Bush chewing the carpet at the Naval Observatory. Bush's knuckle-dragging son, George W. Bush, called the story "a cheap shot" and added menacingly: "... I'd like to take the guy who wrote that headline out on that boat," i.e., the Aronow-built "Fidelity" in which Bush was depicted on the "Newsweek" cover -- which sounded very much like a threat. George W. Bush also called "Newsweek" Washington bureau [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |