Friday, November 3, 2000 Discloser of Bush Arrest Says Has No Ties to Gore

PORTLAND, Maine--The Democrat who told reporters of Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush's 1976 drunk-driving conviction said he has no ties to Al Gore's campaign and called the disclosure an "act of democracy."

Thomas Connolly, an attorney and the 1998 Democratic Maine gubernatorial candidate, told CNN he is not associated with Democratic presidential nominee Gore's campaign.

"I'm not associated with the Gore campaign at all and it came to me in my capacity as an attorney," Connolly said.

He said he felt he owed it to the American people to make the information public "because it was a criminal conviction and also because the nature of a DWI or OUI (driving while intoxicated or operating a vehicle under the influence) conviction is such that it is considered by many to be a crime of moral turpitude."

Connolly said an estimated 25,000 people are killed in the United States annually by drunk drivers.

He said he had no regrets about releasing the information so close to Tuesday's election and said he had only learned of the conviction on Thursday.

"It allows people who are independents or who are Republican, who are Democrat to evaluate who should be the next president," he said.

The disclosure of the 24-year-old court records, which are open to the public but had not come to the attention of reporters before Thursday, "is not a prideful thing whatsoever. It's an act of democracy, just as if a person was required to do anything for their country that they would have considered an important thing. But it's not necessarily laudatory ..." Connolly said.

The Bush campaign said Democratic "dirty tricks" were behind the disclosure that at age 30 Bush had been arrested for drunk driving in Kennebunkport, Maine, pleaded guilty, paid a $150 fine and had his drivers license suspended for 30 days.

Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times

-- L.A. Times (from@LA.times), November 03, 2000

Answers

When is this from? Last year? Five years ago? Ten years ago? No it's from 24 years ago!

Give it a rest....puleasze!

-- Yawn (anything@more recent.com?), November 03, 2000.

But you know if it had been Clinton or Gore that had a DUI or pot smoking arrest from 24 years ago they'd damn sure use it! Name your poison righteous Republicans or demagogue Democrats. observer

-- observer (observer@hypocrisyusa.com), November 03, 2000.

LOL!

D-DUBYA-I

bwaaaahaaaahaaa!!

-- (shrubs@new.nickname), November 03, 2000.

-- (heeeheee@bwaaaa.haaahaaa), November 03, 2000.