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Saturday, November 4, 2000

Talkative lawyer told on Bush
Democrat says GOP candidate should have admitted DUI himself
By Jerry Harkavy
Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine - Sporting his signature long-billed fishing cap, lawyer Tom Connolly is a familiar figure at the Cumberland County Courthouse. And as befits a former college debate champion, he loves to talk.
   When he gets excited, his words come in a loud, rapid-fire burst, and he makes no secret of his disdain for George W. Bush.
   So the 43-year-old lawyer was easily overheard Thursday when he was sounding off to colleagues about a revelation: Bush had been arrested 24 years ago in Kennebunkport for drunken driving.
   A police officer who heard the courthouse conversation passed the news to a TV reporter. The reporter spotted Connolly later in the day, and the lawyeragreed to give her a copy of a court document about Bush's case and the story was out.
   Outside his office on Friday, Connolly rejected Republican talk that the release of the information less than a week before the election was a political dirty trick. It was Bush who should have owned up earlier, he said.
   "It's not a dirty trick to tell the truth," Connolly said. "Bush is the one who's been playing fast and loose with the truth."
   Despite the revelation that Bush pleaded guilty to driving under the influence (DUI), a Texas leader of Mothers Against Drunk Driving refused Friday to chastise Bush.
   "The governor has admitted he used to drink too much," said Bill Lewis, state public policy liaison for MADD and owner of the Keller Citizen, a newspaper in Keller. Lewis said he has known about Bush's arrest in Maine for about five years.
   In his State of the State address in January 1999, Bush proposed lowering the blood alcohol level for drunken driving to 0.08 from 0.10. The Texas Legislature approved the measure.
   "This legislation will make our streets safer, and it sends a clear signal to Texans that drinking and driving don't mix," Bush said, signing the bill just before Memorial Day weekend in 1999. The law took effect Sept. 1, 1999.
   Connolly's dislike of the Republican presidential nominee is well-documented.
   So is his sense of humor. At last summer's Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, Connolly distributed buttons that said "W is for Wiener," showing Bush stuffed into a hotdog roll.
   He also supplied conventioneers with hundreds of buttons that read, "Insomniacs for Gore - I'd rather be put to sleep than put to death." The references were to Al Gore's bland reputation and the number of executions in Texas since Bush became governor.
   His oratorical flourishes proved to be of little help two years ago when he attempted to unseat Angus King, the popular independent governor.
   Connolly, who lives in Scarborough with his wife and three children, has been outspoken in his support of state control of liquor sales, citing the costs of alcohol abuse to society.
   He said Friday that he has represented hundreds of drunken-driving defendants and has sympathy for Bush.
   But he said it was important for the public to know about the 1976 arrest.

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