The cat and mouse game between Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, the
53-year-old Republican presidential front-runner, and the media over whether he used drugs
in his distant past should stop. It’s time to clear the air.
The media’s pursuit of the issue is legitimate. Voters are
entitled to know as much as possible about the Republican Party’s leading candidate
in the 2000 Presidential race. So what’s wrong with confronting the issue now, months
before the critical primaries? The question won’t go away. It’s not enough to
admit to youthful "mistakes." It’s not enough to say he could have passed
an FBI background check in his father’s Presidency.
President Clinton, who redefined the word "lie," got in front
of the issue, long ago admitting he tried marijuana.
New Mexico Gov. Gary E. Johnson, a 46-year-old second-term Republican,
openly admitted he used marijuana and cocaine in college. He’s the first governor of
New Mexico to win a second consecutive four-year term in a state tilted toward Democratic
voters.
"It was not something that anybody would have ever known,"
Johnson recently told a New York Times reporter. "But I knew if I was going to run
for office, I should ‘fess up. And if I didn’t win, so be it."
W., let’s move on to substantive campaign issues. Did you or
didn’t you? As Gov. Johnson put it, ‘fess up.
