Former President Bush jokes that wife 'steamed up' over attacks on son
 |  Former President Bush, standing in for his son, speaks at the Alfred E. Smith charity dinner. |
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Speaking at a dinner event Thursday night, former President Bush joked that Barbara Bush is getting "steamed up" by the constant political attacks on her son.
"I don't know who's going to blow first, her or Mount St. Helens," the former president told the 59th annual Alfred E. Smith charity dinner.
He added: "If Barbara gets her hands on John Kerry, he might get another Purple Heart."
The former president also referenced the recent debates between his son and Kerry, saying he is glad they are over. Polls have shown that most Americans believe Kerry won all three debates over President Bush.
"Thank heavens the debates are over," the elder Bush said. "Someone said we should have more. I said, 'Good heavens, haven't we had enough of those?'"
Among the notable attendees of the dinner were Sens. Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, Gov. George Pataki, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Mayor Ed Koch.
Officials at the Archdiocese of New York decided not to invite the current President Bush or Kerry to the dinner -- just the second time since 1960 that the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have not been asked to attend.
"The tradition of the Smith dinner is to bring people together," said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese.
He said given that issues in this year's campaign could provoke division and disagreement that would detract from that spirit, it was felt best to proceed in a different direction, "while maintaining all of the ideals and values of the dinner."
Addressing the dinner in place of Kerry was former New York Gov. Hugh Carey.
Founded by Francis Cardinal Spellman in 1946 to honor the memory of Alfred Emmanuel Smith, New York's renowned governor and patron of the "Little People," the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation supports and aids the poor, sick, and underprivileged of the Archdiocese of New York.
In 1996, President Clinton was not invited because Cardinal John O'Connor criticized him for vetoing a bill that would have outlawed some late-term abortions. Dinner organizers decided that they did not want to appear partisan by asking the GOP challenger, Sen. Bob Dole, to attend if the president was not invited.
The candidates' running mates, Vice President Al Gore and Rep. Jack Kemp, spoke in their places that year.
Alfred E. Smith was a four-term Democratic New York governor who in 1928 became the first Catholic to be nominated for president. Kerry, who supports abortion rights, is the first Catholic since John F. Kennedy to win the presidential nomination of a major party.
