'Misunderestimated' Bushisms 'Resignate'
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There's a blooper reel for every modern president even those hailed as master communicators. It's no wonder. Every word they publicly utter is recorded and dissected. But Bush is on his way to become the Yogi Berra of American politics.
It's a talent that's been apparent since he set out on the campaign trail. "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family," he told supporters in January 2000 at the Nashua Chamber of Commerce, shortly before the New Hampshire primary.
Bush addressed education policy in South Carolina: "Rarely is the question asked, Is our children learning?"
Then, debating rival John McCain, Bush made overtures to unite his party. "I think we agree, the past is over," he said, after complaining that the Arizona senator "can't take the high horse and then claim the low road." How to Push the Presidents Button
Toy merchant John Warnock and his family struck gold just before Christmas with a talking George W. Bush doll a $30, 12 ½-inch action figure that demonstrates the president's way with words with 17 "powerful and patriotic phrases."
Push the plastic president's button and he says all your favorite things, such as, "I don't need to be 'sublim-in-able' about the differences between our views."
More than 12,000 Bush dolls sold in less than a week, when supplies ran out, Warnock says. In the days before Christmas, they were selling on eBay for $250, making the commander in chief this year's Tickle Me Elmo.
Through it all, Bush laughs off his critics. "You have to admit in my sentences, I have gone where no man has gone before," he joked at his own expense at the 2001 White House Correspondents Dinner.
But if we laugh at Bush, we should remember that he's not the only national politician who's been roasted for his malapropisms. Al Gore certainly has been known to trip over his tongue.
On the campaign trail in 1996, Gore visited a school in a largely Hispanic section of Albuquerque, N.M., and decided to use a little Spanish. He tried to say "muchas gracias" ("many thanks"). Instead he waved and told the crowd, "machismo gracias" ("manliness thanks").