"PRESIDENTIAL RUNNING MATE SELECTED, THEN REJECTED, BY BUSH.(Rooters) In a bold decision that didn't appear to come as a surprise to the crack, necktied members of the Governor's security staff, George W. Bush selected his vice-presidential running mate yesterday evening. Then he changed his mind. In the photo on your left (not shown), the GOP presidential candidate is seen consoling his on-again, off-again selectee, seated behind the white column in a state of shock. A nearby reporter overheard Bush saying, "That's why I like to pre-announce announcements of my informal announcements to be made prior to my off-the-cuff announcements that preceed my announcement of the formal announcement! I'll never do that again!" Later, the Governor's spokesperson said next week's schedule is filled with visitors to the Governor's Mansion bringing petitions of support for a supportable candidate who will be in a position to offer support to find a viable candidate that Bush could support. 5/17/99

The Dems are turning up the heat, trying to keep Rylander honest. They know she'd love to wait until the last minute before saying, "Bombs away!" That way, she hopes George would be the beneficiary of her largess, since he's not going to be tempted to settle for less in the meantime. There's little doubt that communication between the rapid-talking lady and the laconic Guv is taking place on a daily basis. But the Dems know how the game is played, so they're waiting, too. Dem House Ed Committee Chairman Paul Sandler said this is the latest in the three Bush sessions that the budget count has come in. Meanwhile, his committee simply is not meeting: "No reason to meet without money," he said. Kevin Bailey, another Dem House chairman said, "We don't know if it's intentional or if (the rookie Comptroller) is just incapable of figuring out the amount." As we have indicated earlier in the week, Rylander has spent many years in political leadership positions, so it's doubtful the problem is inexperience.

Talking about leadership, the Dems have described Dubya's leadership skills in the matter as "absent." One has taken to calling the Guv "Waldo," of "Where's Waldo?" fame. Even the GOP members of the lege are growing restless. A Texas House insider has described the feelings of many Republican legislaters to us: "I can tell you that the Republican leadership is very, very frustrated with the Gov's lack of an agenda and an unwillingness to take a stand on anything. There is no motivation on the GOP's part to move anything. So all they can do, and they do this on a daily basis, is counter with floor amendments to water down the stuff they don't like." The frustration came out on the floor the other day when renagade Republicans proposed and passed more sales tax cuts, with the surprised approval of the Dems and the clear disapproval of the Republican leadership. Even the Republican Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Bill Ratliff has gotten on the growing bandwagon of dissatisfaction, saying if he doesn't have Rylander's budget by Friday, "it'll be too late." It appears that there's collateral damage even before the budget bomb has been dropped. 5/13/99

Then there's Dubya's tendency throughout the interview to repeat himself and to ignore the question asked, either because he didn't understand the question or because he didn't have an acceptable answer: SAWYER: People have said even though there are laws on the books about prosecuting parents (for the crimes of their children), that it isn’t being done. Do you want more? GOV. BUSH: Well, we’ve got ample law in the state of Texas to do such things. Really what I want is parents to say my most important job is to be a good, loving mother or dad. SAWYER: Mrs. Clinton has said it’s time for the American people to write their senators and congressman and say buck the gun lobby. Do you want Americans to write their senators and say that? GOV. BUSH: I don’t know what that means. I do know that mothers and dads have got to say and understand the most important job they will ever have—they will ever have—is to love their children.

Dubya broke another job interview rule when he gave answers that were contradicted by his job vita. For example, when Sawyer asked him if he was for instant checks on gun show sales and pushing for it, he said he was, but recent facts in his dossier suggest otherwise. Similarly, when Sawyer asked him if he were for mandatory safety locks on guns, he said he was for voluntary safety locks. Bush's vita indicates that he's also for voluntary pollution control, and facts indicate that approach to cleaning up the environment has failed miserably. (In case you're interested, we're for voluntary free gas at the pumps.)

Sawyer broke a job interview rule of her own by asking Bush about his personal life. That's a no-no according to Federal law, but George didn't seem to mind answering it, since he had an answer that all of us had heard over and over and over: "20 to 30 years ago, I made mistakes. But what people need to know about me is that I’ve learned from my mistakes... People can float every rumor they want and people can try to destroy the reputation of candidates, but as we move ahead into the 21st century, it’s necessary—it’s necessary for somebody to say the past is the past, judge me for what I am today." Since George stopped drinking 12 years ago, not 20 or 30, folks have really wondered what in the world he's talking about, since he brought up the matter of a "wild youth" in the first place. Interestingly, he contends his "wild youth" continued into his mid-thirties.

A job interviewer might conclude that the guy's a nut and paranoid to boot. He makes a big deal apologizing about something he did sometime between his childhood and his mid-thirties but refuses to identify what he's talking about and then turns around and blames Washington and the media for trying to "destroy somebody's reputation" because reporters are asking for clarification when he's the one who brought it up in the first place. Sawyer left it at that, telling Bush that his answer is "going to leave the implication, of course, that you did drugs."

Looking over the full transcript of Dubya's first TV job interview for prez, one could fairly conclude that this candidate wouldn't be invited back for a second interview for such an important job if not for the fact that his father has some pull with the higher-ups in the company and the guy being interviewed controls quite a bit of its stock. 5/11/99

POLITEX: GOP NEEDS BUSH PRIMARY TO CHECK SIBLING CHOICE. Paul Gigot, the younger, taller, more conservative half of the PBS team of Shields and Gigot, said Friday in the WSJ that Republicans have a Southern governor, the son of a recent President, whose legislative program is presently being passed like gangbusters. His name's Jeb Bush. Meanwhile, "as one Republican puts it, (George) Bush is ahead in the polls now mainly because he is ahead in the polls. Republicans hear he's got talent, and they're desperate to win, so they pile their hopes onto his poll numbers....One worry is that Mr. Bush has prospered politically in Texas more because of his personal charisma than his ability to sell ideas." Gigot implies that this is exactly what brought George's father down against Clinton: "The governor's presidential opponents may remind primary voters that another George Bush made the mistake of thinking politics was mainly personal.... Republicans deserve to know, in short, if George W. Bush the politician is like his father, or more like his mother and brother." 5/10/99

HOW DUBYA WILL ORCHESTRATE A TAX CUT BY MAY 31. In an ad hominem headline in the Statesman on Friday, Dave McNeeley said everyone's "Waiting for Rylander to Sing." Carole Keeton Rylander, Texas' own portly pepperpot whose speech pattern is as rapid as an AK-41, happens to be in the catbird seat right now as Texas Comptroller. Rylander is in charge of telling Bush and the legislature how much money the state has to spend in the next two years, but she's not saying. Republicans say she's just being careful as an inexperienced beginner, having taken over the job from Dem John Sharp in the last election. But Rylander's no babe in the woods, serving as mayor of Austin and head of the Texas Railroad Commission before moving up the political food chain. Before ex-Comptroller Sharp left, he squirreled away $300-$500 million for the next session, as Comptrollers usually do for political leverage, and declared a surplus of $6.3 billion. (Of course, there really is no surplus in Texas if you figure out budgets the way the other states do, as Rylander's Dem opponent noted throughout the campaign, but no one wanted to listen to such negative nonsense, and he lost.)

Getting back to Rylander, the politician who ran as "One Tuff Grandma!" got into office in January and almost immediately decided that Sharp's estimated surplus was $700 million too high. So much for being an inexperienced beginner. Now, Rylander has $1.1 billion extra to declare whenever she chooses. (Work with me, here.) That plus whatever she can come up with after the state revenue report is due May 15 could very well total enough to give Bush $1.5-1.75 billion for his property tax proposal, which would be close enough to his requested $2 billion to preclude a special session of the legislature in June, providing the Dems are satisfied with their cut. Right now, the Dem-led House committee has $3 billion to spend on teacher pay, property cuts, etc., and with that scenario the Bush property tax cut could be as low as $500 million, the price of a burger a month for the average home owner. Earlier in the session Bush tried to get more money with a bill that would have raided the Workers' Compensation Fund. No dice. His latest strategy was unveiled last week when he started the rumor through the Capitol that he would call a special session. (Reported here last weekend.) By Wednesday it became reported national fact with a laid-back George saying he wouldn't mind hanging out in Austin for another month to avoid the sweat of a primary campaign and to leave with his presidential tax message intact.

But no one really wants a special session, most of all Bush. As Clay Robison says in today's Houston Chronicle, it would be "at best a calculated risk." And since the special session could include revived versions of dead bills like educational vouchers, the Dems are not happy about the prospect. Which takes us back to Rylander. She won out over Hobby in a very close race due to the backing of two men: George Bush, who provided political cover, and "Sugar Daddy" Leininger who provided financial cover. Leininger has become point man for the voucher movement in Texas, and it wouldn't be a surprise to learn that Rylander is caught between the desires of these two powerful men. (We suspect the deal is already taking place. In the last few weeks Bush has repeated that, as President, he would support Ed Vouchers on the Fed level.) Meanwhile, the Dems in the House are saying they can't move bills without the Comptroller's final numbers and Rylander would like to wait until the very last minute (May 31) to find more money, at which time it would go to Bush's plan to decrease property taxes, other big money bills having been reduced or killed in the meantime because, catch-22, no one knows how much money the state has to spend. What we're seeing, then, is an elaborate political game of chicken, with all sides asking Rylander to "please lay the golden egg." (AAS 5/7/99) 5/9/99

But those pesky rumors! Shoot one down and there's another to take its place. The latest that's zipping around the corridors of the Capitol is that George wants an excuse to call a special session of the legislature during the month of June to further avoid going out on the primary hustings. One observer explained: "If you consider Dubya's current position in the polls by not campaigning, you could say that his strategy has been quite successful. A special session would allow him to point to his state duties as the reason he can't yet get out of Texas for another month or so to work the early primary states. He could continue to selectively refuse to address presidential questions because he is 'concentrating' on issues here at home. It is widely accepted that the longer he can put off campaigning, the longer he stays in the lead." Meanwhile, his growing war chest might discourage some of his opponents from continuing their run. Word is at the end of June he plans to announce that he's collected $15 million. Rove would undoubtedly call this rumor "ridiculous" as well, but it's the product of folks who wonder who George thinks he's fooling. As observers in and out of the media have been saying for months, sooner or later Bush has to come out of Texas and prove that he can take some primary punches. To combine boxing and politics, George can run, but he can't hide! (AAS 4/9) 5/1/99