Tuesday, February 29, 2000
Bush here; Catholics listening
He'll need to explain reason for Bob Jones visit
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Texas Gov. George W. Bush brings his presidential campaign to Cincinnati today in the midst of his effort to dig himself out of the hole his appearance at the ultraconservative Bob Jones University created with Catholic voters.
Texas Gov. George Bush campaigns in Bellevue, Wash., Monday.
(AP photo)
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And when he gets here, he will find a whole lot of Catholic voters who will be very interested in hearing what he says before they go to the polls in the Ohio primary next Tuesday.
“Unlike Cleveland, the Catholics in Cincinnati are Republican and, yes, the Bob Jones thing doesn't help him,” said Ohio Treasurer Joe Deters, the Hamilton County Re publican Party chairman and a Bush supporter.
“It's not fatal, but it doesn't help,” said Mr. Deters, who is helping organize a rally for Mr. Bush tonight at Cincinnati's Memorial Hall.
The problem started for Mr. Bush the day after the Feb. 1 New Hampshire primary, when he went to Bob Jones University in South Carolina and spoke to 5,000 students in an effort — ultimately successful — to win the Christian conservative vote in that state's GOP primary.
The school bans interracial dating, and the head of the university, Bob Jones III, has made numerous comments disparaging the Roman Catholic Church and calling Catholics members of a “cult.”
Mr. Bush's principal opponent for the GOP nomination, Arizona Sen. John McCain, has been highly critical of Mr. Bush for associating with an “intol erant” person such as Mr. Jones. For the past week, Mr. Bush has been pressed on the issue wherever he has gone.
Sunday, Mr. Bush sent a letter to Cardinal John O'Connor of the Archdiocese of New York, where there are 2.4 million Catholics, many of whom are voters in next Tuesday's New York primary.
In the letter, Mr. Bush said he was sorry he had not distanced himself from “anti-Catholic sentiments and racial prejudice,” calling it a “missed opportunity I deeply regret.”
In addition, the Bush campaign faxed an 800-word opinion piece to newspaper editorial pages in March 7 primary states expressing the same regret over the Bob Jones University incident.
It is too little, too late, according to McCain supporters.
“I don't think anyone thinks George W. Bush is an anti-Catholic or a bigot, but people are right to be angered by the fact that he would associate himself with someone like that,” said Cincinnati City Councilman Pat DeWine, a McCain supporter.
U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, told the Enquirer editorial board Monday that while the flap over Bob Jones University is “not going to help,” he does not see large numbers of Catholic voters bolting from the Bush camp.
“It's not going to be crucial in the long run,” said Mr. Voinovich, a Catholic and a Bush supporter. “If people use their common sense, they'll know what happened here,” Mr. Voinovich said. “People know the Bush family. They know they are not bigots, anti-Catholic or whatever. I just don't think this is going to be that much of a hurdle for most voters.”
Mr. Deters said that ultimately, many Catholic voters who cast ballots in the GOP primary will vote for Mr. Bush because of his anti-abortion stand.
Mr. McCain says he, too, opposes abortion but has drawn fire from the anti-abortion movement because of a statement last summer saying that he did not think the Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion should be reversed. Mr. McCain later backtracked on that statement.
“The pro-life issue is going to affect the vote a lot more than this Bob Jones thing,” Mr. Deters said.
Joanne Kemmerer, a teacher at Immaculate Conception Academy in Norwood and a Republican Ohio House candidate, said she had been only “vaguely aware” of Bob Jones University and its views on race and religion.
“I don't know why anyone would assume that George W. Bush agrees with that point of view just because he went to Bob Jones University,” said Mrs. Kemmerer, a Catholic and longtime anti-abortion activist. “I don't know if (Mr. Bush) knew about this anti-Catholic attitude when he went there or not.”
When Mr. Bush comes to Cincinnati today, he is unlikely to hear about the Bob Jones University incident from the friendly crowd he will find here.
It will be a crowd made up mostly of Hamilton County Republican Party workers, employees of Republican county office-holders and local GOP precinct executives. Only persons with tickets will be allowed into the Bush rally at Memorial Hall, and the Hamilton County GOP is passing out the tickets.
The event will be the third and final stop in a Bush Ohio tour that comes three days after Mr. McCain drew large crowds in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, where there was no ticketing for events.
Mr. Bush has found a lot of support in the region. Last July, he drew 400 people to a fund-raiser that generated $1 million for his campaign.
Bush here; Catholics listening
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