JUST SAY MAYBE 

MAUREEN DOWD 

c.1999 N.Y. Times News Service 

   WASHINGTON - I get no kick from writing about cocaine. 
But the press is not out of bounds here. Whatever W. did in the past, he has made his own white mischief in the present. 
   The problem lies in George Bush's packaging of his myth. W. understands that the arc of a presidential campaign follows the arc of a heroic adventure. The candidate must slay the dragon or the giant. 
   As Joseph Campbell wrote: “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder; fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won; the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.'' 
   John F. Kennedy, Bob Dole, President Bush and John McCain offered traditional conquests. They fought real enemies in war. 
   But boomers like Bill Clinton and George W. Bush who avoided Vietnam needed to create domestic dragons and internal giants to kill. Clinton dramatized his teen-age confrontation with his alcoholic, abusive stepfather. 
   Yuppie candidates play up painful odysseys of self-discovery. They slay the Gorgon of addiction and the Hydra of self-indulgence. They present themselves as redeemed, reborn (or born again) with the Arthurian virtues - temperance, loyalty, courage. 
   W.'s myth (potent because it offers the classic plot line of succeeding his father as ruler) has been much written about of late: He was, as his cousin John Ellis said, “on the road to nowhere at age 40.'' In 1985, he had a serious talk with Billy Graham at Kennebunkport. He quit drinking, drifting, smoking and chewing tobacco and became a disciplined, Bible-reading leader who “accepted Christ.'' 
   W. is perfectly content when the press hews to this story line: hothead and goof-off metamorphoses into presidential timber. 
   He'll talk about overcoming alcohol. He'll talk with pride about his faithfulness to his wife because it offers a positive contrast with Bill Clinton. Other “mistakes'' are declared off limits. 
   But as in “Fantasia,'' once the demons are unleashed it's hard to contain them. When you pick and choose which dragons you've slain, you shouldn't be surprised when the press won't be spoon fed from a menu of sins you choose. They'll also be interested in the ones you want to hide. 
   And in hiding, W. began to sound too much like the man he scorns, the president - parsing, tap-dancing, obscuring, trying to have it both ways, dribbling out and selectively revealing the facts. 
   The Texas governor's tough talk on crime also left him open. He signed a punitive law in Texas that allowed judges to put people convicted of possessing less than one gram of cocaine in jail. He is also the new standard bearer of a party that has worked hard to demonize drug users as weak and immoral sinners, best treated from a jail cell. 
   His reaction to the kerfuffle shows that he is still green in many ways. He clumsily reversed his stance of not going beyond acknowledging youthful “mistakes,'' boxing himself in by defining time periods when he did not do illegal drugs. The coyness was unbearable. First it was seven years, then it was 15 years, then it was 25 years. He grew ever more ill at ease and peeved. 
   By the time he got to Fairlawn, Ohio, on Friday he was still deep in Clintonspeak. “I think parents, particularly baby-boomer parents, ought to say to children, `Do not use drugs,' '' Bush said. ``I think we owe the children that responsibility to share our wisdom. I worry about a society that sends a different message. One of the interesting questions facing baby boomers is, `Have we grown up?''' 
   He was pressed by The Times' Adam Clymer: “And if a child asks a baby-boomer parent, `Well, did you?''' 
   He replied: “I think the baby-boomer parent ought to say, `I've learned from mistakes I may or may not have made. And I'd like to share some wisdom with you.''' 
   Mistakes he may or may not have made? There's not a teen-ager in America who would swallow that. It's not moral instruction. It's not even wisdom. It's evasion. 
   Voters might accept a boomer candidate who admitted he dabbled in drugs. They might welcome a candidate who said firmly and consistently, “none of your business.'' But they'll never accept a Bush who sounds like a Clinton.