Campaign 2000: Bush Bears Down

But if Bush has all the artillery, he has yet to show he can consistently handle the incoming fire of the campaign trail. When he is faced with issues that fall outside the Bush Campaign Message--like when voters at two back-to-back meetings in New Hampshire last week stood up to ask him about health care--he can still sound scripted, or just bored. And when the issues are hot, he can be evasive. On a number of recent controversies--whether the Confederate flag should fly over the South Carolina capitol, what to do about the racial profiling of black motorists, whether to let McCain on the New York ballot--the candidate argues that it is up to the states to decide. But on subjects less touchy for Republicans, Bush has been willing to criticize a Cleveland judge's decision on vouchers, an assisted suicide initiative in Oregon and an anti-gay initiative in California.

By week's end Bush had found a way to put his best assets on display. Barbara Bush, the venerated former First Lady, turned up in New Hampshire, and was followed a few days later by George W.'s brother Jeb, Governor of Florida. Bush's father, the former President, flew to Iowa to promise Republicans there that George W. "would be excellent at doing what I tried to do." As his campaign bus chugged down a snowy highway in New Hampshire last week, Bush recalled how, in 1988, he went up to his father to relay advice from some close supporters. "What is it?" the elder Bush asked. "Just be yourself," the son answered. As he told the story, the candidate rolled his eyes, as if to say he had heard enough of that himself lately.

--With reporting by John F. Dickerson, with McCain