Bush’s Paula Jones

Doug Wead’s pre-presidential conversations with George W. Bush offer any number of interesting angles, but the story that’s getting the most play — Bush apparently smoked marijuana — seems the least interesting. The fact that a guy with a substance abuse problem in the ’60s and ’70s used pot is hardly a shocking development.

Instead, my favorite revelation was Bush’s September 1998 comments in preparation for a meeting with James Dobson, in which Bush sought to allay Dobson’s fears that he’s not a “true believer.”

Mr. Bush said he intended to reassure Dr. Dobson of his opposition to abortion. Mr. Bush said he was concerned about rumors that Dr. Dobson had been telling others that the “Bushes weren’t going to be involved in abortion,” meaning that the Bush family preferred to avoid the issue rather than fight over it.

“I just don’t believe I said that. Why would I have said that?” Mr. Bush told Mr. Wead with annoyance.

By the end of the primary, Mr. Bush alluded to Dr. Dobson’s strong views on abortion again, apparently ruling out potential vice presidents including Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania and Gen. Colin L. Powell, who favored abortion rights. Picking any of them could turn conservative Christians away from the ticket, Mr. Bush said.

“They are not going to like it anyway, boy,” Mr. Bush said. “Dobson made it clear.”

Here we have an admission that Bush was allowing a far-right evangelical, whose record of intolerance and extremism is well established, to hold veto-power over Bush’s choice of running mates.

The lesson is clear: Bush is a man of convictions, as long as powerful religious right figures sign off on those convictions as acceptable to the GOP base.