GEORGE BUSH GAFFES - LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

The Economy, Stupid
"We're enjoying sluggish times, and not enjoying them very much." -George Bush Sr., in 1992
"A tax cut is really one of the anecdotes to coming out of an economic illness." -George W. Bush, in Sept. 2000

Mangled Metaphors
"Please don't ask me to do that which I've just said I'm not going to do, because you're burning up time. The meter is running through the sand on you, and I am now filibustering." -George Bush Sr., in 1989
"The senator has got to understand if he's going to have - he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road." -George W. Bush, in Feb. 2000

The Call of the Wild
"If you're worried about caribou, take a look at the arguments that were used about the pipeline. They'd say the caribou would be extinct. You've got to shake them away with a stick. They're all making love lying up against the pipeline and you got thousands of caribou up there." -George Bush Sr., speaking in 1991 about the Alaskan pipeline
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." -George W. Bush, in Sept. 2000

The Dangers of Microphones
"These, they're very dangerous. They trap you. Especially these furry ones...it's these furry guys that get you in real trouble. They can reach out and listen to something so - keep it respectful here." -George Bush Sr., speaking to Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1991 about the need to be careful when speaking near open microphones
"There's Adam Clymer, major league asshole from the New York Times." -George W. Bush, in Sept. 2000

Linguistic Abilities
"Fluency in English is something that I'm often not accused of." -George Bush Sr., in 1989
"The woman who knew that I had dyslexia - I never interviewed her." -George W. Bush, in Sept. 2000, denying a magazine article's claim that he suffers from dyslexia

Mistake My Wife, Please
"It has been said by some cynic, maybe it was a former president, 'If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.' Well, we took them literally - that advice - as you know. But I didn't need that because I have Barbara Bush." -George Bush Sr., in 1989
"The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case." -George W. Bush, in Jan. 2000

Anti-Matters of the Heart
"I hope I stand for antibigotry, anti-Semitism, antiracism. This is what drives me." -George Bush Sr., in 1988
"Unfairly but truthfully, our party has been tagged as being against things. Anti-immigrant, for example. And we're not a party of anti-immigrants. Quite the opposite. We're a party that welcomes people." -George W. Bush, in July 2000

Man's Best Friend
"Let me give you a little serious political advice. One single word. Puppies. Worth the points." -George Bush Sr., in 1990
"If the terriers and bariffs are torn down, this economy will grow." -George W. Bush, in Jan. 2000

Political Savvy
"It's no exaggeration to say the undecideds could go one way or another." -George Bush Sr., in 1988
"Listen, Al Gore is a very tough opponent. He is the incumbent. He represents the incumbency. And a challenger is somebody who generally comes from the pack and wins, if you're going to win. And that's where I'm coming from." -George W. Bush, in Sept. 2000

Freudian Slips
"For seven and a half years I've worked alongside President Reagan. We've had triumphs. Made some mistakes. We've had some sex...uh...setbacks." -George Bush Sr., in 1988
"It was just inebriating what Midland was all about then." -George W. Bush, reflecting in 1994 about growing up in Midland, Texas

Combating International Terrorism
"When I need a little advice about Saddam Hussein, I turn to country music." -George Bush Sr., in 1991
"We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile.'' -George W. Bush, in Aug. 2000

Riding the Wave of the Future
"High tech is potent, precise, and in the end, unbeatable. The truth is, it reminds a lot of people of the way I pitch horseshoes. Would you believe some of the people? Would you believe our dog? Look, I want to give the high-five symbol to high tech." -George Bush Sr., in 1989
"Will the highways on the Internet become more few?" -George W. Bush, in Jan. 2000

Misguided Imagery
"If a frog had wings, he wouldn't hit his tail on the ground. Too hypothetical." -George Bush Sr., in 1992
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." -George W. Bush, in Oct.. 2000

Don't Quota Me
"It gets into quota, go into numerical, set numbers for doctors or for, it could go into all kinds of things." -George Bush Sr.
"What I am against is quotas. I am against hard quotas, quotas they basically delineate based upon whatever. However they delineate, quotas, I think vulcanize society. So I don't know how that fits into what everybody else is saying, their relative positions, but that's my position.'' -George W. Bush, in Jan. 2000

Making the Grade
"And let me say in conclusion, thanks for the kids. I learned an awful lot about bathtub toys - about how to work the telephone. One guy knows - several of them know their own phone numbers - preparation to go to the dentist. A lot of things I'd forgotten. So it's been a good day." -George Bush Sr., in 1992
"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" -George W. Bush, in Jan. 2000

Webster's, to Heck With It
"Those are two hyporhetorical questions." -George Bush Sr., in 1988
"I've got a record, a record that is conservative and a record that is compassionated." -George W. Bush, in March 2000

Poetically Incorrect
"The Democrats want to ram it down my ear in a political victory." -George Bush Sr., in 1991
"We ought to make the pie higher." -George W. Bush, in Feb. 2000

On the Couch
"To kind of suddenly try to get my hair colored, and dance up and down in a miniskirt or do something, you know, show that I've got a lot of jazz out there and drop a bunch of one-liners, I'm running for the president of the United States...I kind of think I'm a scintillating kind of fellow." -George Bush Sr., in 1988
"Actually, I - this may sound a little West Texan to you, but I like it. When I'm talking about - when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are talking about me." -George W. Bush, in May 2000

The Electability Thing
"I don't want to get, you know, here we are close to the election - sounding a knell of overconfidence that I don't feel." -George Bush Sr., in 1988
"I don't know whether I'm going to win or not. I think I am. I do know I'm ready for the job. And, if not, that's just the way it goes." -George W. Bush, in Aug. 2000