Other reporters had a go at Bush that same weekend. In Sioux City, CNN's Al Hunt asked Bush about the New York GOP and its attempts to keep McCain from appearing on the ballot. Hunt cited a memo from the New York state GOP chairman that said the decision was up to Bush.

"Al, I don't know about that memo," Bush said. "There are, what, 10 states that require petitions to get on the ballot? Virginia is one -- requires a petition process. When we first got going in this campaign, we knew what the rules were, my campaign did. And we're complying with the rules of these various state organizations. This is just not New York. There are states -- and Arizona, by the way, is a state that requires petitions. It's a state that requires people to gather signatures. And I told our people, I said, 'We'll comply with the rules of these various states.'"

When Hunt asked if he would consider a pro-choice running mate, Bush said: "I think the fair statement is the statement I've been making every time I've been asked this question in every debate. People say: 'Who, Governor?' And the first thing I say is that it's presumptuous for someone to be talking names."

Bush then outlined three requirements for a running mate that have nothing to do with abortion -- "Does the person like me?" for instance -- and then concluded, "And that's the extent to which I'm going to talk about my running mate."

On Sunday, Bush was a guest on ABC's "This Week With Sam and Cokie." When Cokie Roberts asked whether he had broken his pledge to Texans that he wouldn't raise sales taxes, he replied: "No, because in a letter that I wrote to the -- to this particular person, I said I also intend to reform our -- the way we fund our schools -- finance our schools," Bush said. "I said I want to make the state of Texas the primary funder of schools. And so the full picture is this: As a result of my leadership, we cut taxes $1 billion in the state of Texas."

Roberts persisted. "But the question is, on this particular pledge where your name is there, saying, 'I will not raise the sales tax,' did you, in fact, break that pledge?"

"But Cokie," Bush replied, "in the letter I sent to the person -- there are pledges all the time, and we -- I enunciated the -- I told her -- I expanded on the pledge that I would do everything I could to make the state the primary funder of schools, as well. And that's exactly what I attempted to do. I attempted to reform the tax code, I attempted to cut taxes and as a result of my leadership, we did."

Sam Donaldson pressed Bush repeatedly on how he could reconcile supporting the three exceptions to his pro-life views and still say he supports the current Republican platform, which doesn't support the three exceptions. "I'm recommending -- I'm recommending the platform remain the same," Bush said. "And I'm recommending the Republican Party let me be the nominee, so I can lead the country to a better appreciation of life. That's what I'm recommending."

At another point in the interview, Donaldson had to ask Bush repeatedly what he thought about the recent alliance with Duma Communists by Russia's acting President Vladimir Putin. "It may be a fool's errand on my part," Donaldson went on after Bush balked at answering the question twice, "but I'm going to try one more time to see if you think there is a danger in the recent deal that Putin has made with Communists."

It was unclear if this instance was a desire by the governor to muddle his position on a controversial issue or an attempt to wiggle away from responding to a question he was ill-equipped to answer. Either way, he never answered it.

After much more of this horrifying display, Roberts was compelled to re-ask "a few things from the beginning of the broadcast that we wanted to tie up, some loose ends."

"You mean you didn't like my answers?" Bush asked.

"No, no, no," said Roberts. "They were wonderful answers."

"OK, well you should leave it at that, then," Bush said hopefully.

She didn't. But he didn't answer them then, either.

That afternoon, Mindy Tucker announced the new press conference policy.

The apparent calculation by the Bush campaign: To not know him is to love him.

Recent Stories