Well, if I'm doing the math correctly, Bush was elected to his first term as Governor in 1994 so I believe the girls would have been 12. But honestly, I can't remember ever seeing them in the public eye during W. Bush's terms here in Texas. You'll notice that the twins were not used during the campaign. George and Laura, in my opinion, have done a great job of sheltering them from the public eye. Unfortunately, this sheltering also means that they didn't have the experience of dealing with these sorts of issues.
As far as the Bush legacy, did any of you know that George Bush Sr. had twin grand daughters when he was in office? I bet most did not. I'm sure that I will be corrected if I'm wrong, but the first time that I can remember seeing them on TV was at the National Convention. Yes, the family may have a lot of experience dealing with the public spotlight but the twins haven't.
This was taken from CNN.com (Jan 19, 2000), in an article about the NH primary:
Family members who definitely won't be campaigning here are twin daughters Jenna and Barbara, both 18.
"They weren't real thrilled" with their father running for president, Bush said during an interview. "They kind of like privacy."
Bush recalled last summer attending an Austin High School baseball game where a boyfriend of Jenna's was pitching.
"I did an interview on television and mentioned that the two were friends," Bush said.
"Boy, did I hear about that the next morning. It's the last personal story I told about them, I'll tell you that."
Again, I'll say it, Jenna did show a lack of good judgment. I still don't agree with the publicity that this thing has gotten. Oh, and, please don't confuse intelligence with lack of good judgment - I have no idea how smart either of the girls are but I do know some really smart people that have done some really dumb things.
SuperXO - it seems like we are going to keep having a difference of opinion on this topic. Please don't take any of my comments or rebuttals personally. I know from past posts (on different topics) that you and I agree on much more than we disagree.
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