Governor George W. Bush gives first online news interview

(CNN) -- Republican presidential contender George W. Bush joined CNN.com for his first online news interview Wednesday, August 30. CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley moderated the online event, which drew questions exclusively from the CNN.com audience via chat room, e-mail and message boards.

First elected governor of Texas in 1994, Bush won re-election in 1998, becoming the first Texas governor to win consecutive four-year terms. Prior to running for elective office, Governor Bush served as managing general partner of the Texas Rangers baseball franchise, consultant to Harken Energy Corporation and Chairman & CEO of Spectrum Corporation. During 1987-1988, Bush served as an adviser and speechwriter for his father’s presidential campaign.

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Candy Crowley: We are with the Republican presidential nominee, George W. Bush. Thank you for joining us for your first online, on-air news interview. This is a complicated process here, at least for you and I, so let me set the stage for our viewers and our listeners.

This is an online news interview. Participants are now logging into CNN.com. They're submitting their questions live for you. To allow those online participants who couldn’t join us live to benefit, we have taken questions by e-mail prior to this. We’ve done this sort of thing in the past.

Now, participants can watch this interview on CNN.com, but they can also watch it live on CNN, on CNN International, on CNNfn, and they can listen to it on CNN’s radio affiliate station. So everybody’s watching and listening. Shortly after the conclusion of this interview, an on-demand transcript for the interview and a complete transcript of the interview will be available at CNN.com.

So having said that, there are lots of questions. But you know, here I am, so I have to ask you the first. Do you go online? I mean do you use this technology at all?

George W. Bush: I do. I do. Not only do I do it, I use it personally at my home in the governor’s mansion in Austin. Generally, I’m an e-mail person. I e-mail my brothers. Hopefully, my daughters will e-mail me when they get to college. Matter of fact, at my convention speech, I encouraged them to do so.

Our campaign has a Web page that encourages people to log on and to learn more about me and express their opinions, one way or the other. I’m told we have thousands of hits. And so the Internet is becoming more and more widespread, and not only personally, but in terms of politics.

Candy Crowley: So let me talk to you a little bit about whether you use it informationally. I mean, do you have time to explore? Do you do it on the road, any of that?

George W. Bush: Well, mainly at home, Candy; when I’m at home, I do. I kind of search around. I can remember a couple of high school girls urging me to get on the Internet with them to help them do a research report or two -- that being Barbara and Jenna, our daughters. And, you bet. We use it all the time.

Candy Crowley: One of the questions that’s coming in for you is what would you do to relieve the burdens on the self-employed?

George W. Bush: Actually, I believe that we can afford a tax relief package. It makes the tax code more fair and gives people more money in their own pocket. We have over a $4 trillion surplus. Half of that surplus ought to be reserved for Social Security reform, which I hope we talk about here today.

About a quarter of it ought to be reserved for additional spending, whether it be for the military or Medicare, for example, or education. And a quarter of it ought to go back to the people who pay the bills.

My plan not only makes the system more fair by getting rid of the death tax, for example, and by doing something significant about the marriage penalty, it says if you’re a family of four, making $50,000, you get a 50 percent cut in the federal income taxes you pay. It reduces the top rate from 39 to 33, which will encourage entrepreneurial growth. It will help the self-employed. And we can afford to do so.

Candy Crowley: Let me bring you a question from Jennifer Beck in Pennsylvania: How will you reach out to the thousands of children eligible for Medicaid but without insurance?

George W. Bush: Well, there is a two-fold answer. There are two steps. One is that those eligible for Medicaid -- the states -- must aggressively sign up for Medicaid. And that’s what we’re doing in the state of Texas for children that are eligible for Medicaid.

For those who aren’t eligible for Medicaid, but are below 200 percent of poverty, we’re implementing what’s called the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIPS). We anticipate signing up over 400,000 children in the state of Texas. In comparable states, we are doing a better job of signing up poor children to the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

So, it’s a combination of Medicaid for poor children and CHIPS to make sure our children get health insurance in the state of Texas. We spend over $4 billion a year to help the uninsured in our state, to help the uninsured have good health care.

Candy Crowley: Now let me ask you just a follow up question on this.

George W. Bush: Sure.

Candy Crowley: And that is that there are complaints that the CHIPS program isn’t reaching all of the children that it needs to reach, and that some of the barriers are within the states that don’t want to spend the money, because they have to spend a portion of that. Is your goal to cover all of these children?

George W. Bush: You bet.

Candy Crowley: You know your opponent has a goal of, I think it’s 2005, to cover all children.

George W. Bush: Our goal is to make sure that we sign up children within the law. And we’re going to do so. I’ve heard the political rhetoric saying we don’t want to sign up children to our Children’s Health Insurance Program, and that’s just not the truth.

It’s the same old-style politics -- you know, make an accusation that has no truth to it and hope it sticks. Our state of Texas is a compassionate state. We care about our children, probably care about our children more than somebody in Washington, D. C. does, for that matter. And we’re actively signing up people to the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Candy Crowley: Let me ask you a Social Security question from Jason in Minnesota: I’m a 25-year-old male. What is your plan to make sure Social Security will be there when I retire?

George W. Bush: Well, first and foremost is to lock box the $2.3 trillion of Social Security surplus.

Secondly, to say to those who now are relying upon Social Security, you know the benefit package will not change at all.

Thirdly is to say to Jason, we’re going to trust you if you so choose to manage some of your own payroll taxes in the marketplace under certain guidelines. There’s got to be certain protections involved. We’re not going to let people take their money and put it in the lottery, for example. Now, the key for Jason is to not only trust him with his own money, by the way, but the key for Jason is to encourage a higher rate of return on his own dollars -- much higher than the 2 percent now received in the Social Security Trust Fund.

You see, in order for there to be a Social Security system around for Jason after the year 2017, when the Social Security system starts running a deficit -- in other words, more money is going out than coming in -- there has to be a better rate of return on monies invested in the Social Security Trust.

There’s no better place to get a better rate of return in safe stocks and bonds that Jason can call his own. And so it’s a voluntary plan to let Jason use. And the key to be able to tell Jason is that the benefits that he will earn as a result of the private savings accounts or personal savings accounts, coupled with what’s left in the Social Security Trust attributable to his name, will be equal to or greater than that which is anticipated under the current system.

Candy Crowley: Now, on your Social Security plan -- just to follow up Jason’s question -- we don’t know yet what portion of a Social Security payment that you would allow or that will be worked out that people could use.

George W. Bush: Right.

Candy Crowley: We don’t know yet how that transitional period, moving from the current system to that system, would work to pay the people that are retired.

George W. Bush: Well, actually, we do know that part.

Candy Crowley: Okay.

George W. Bush: I’m sorry. But we’re not sure if it’s 2 percent or 3 percent. That’s to be negotiated. That’s to be left on the table so that when Republicans and Democrats come together, there will be room for negotiation.

What I’m interested in is making sure Jason gets the opportunity, if he chooses, to manage some of his own money -- some of his own payroll taxes -- in the private sector under certain guidelines, so that Jason can get a better return on his money, one, and, two, that Jason can call that asset base his own.

That’s his money. And he ought to be allowed to pass it on from one generation to the next. And so, you bet, in terms of whether or not it ought to be negotiated now between Republicans and Democrats, there ought to be that negotiation room.

But secondly, the cost, for example, if you set aside 2 percent of the money for personal savings accounts, it will cost about a trillion dollars. Remember, we’re setting aside $2.3 trillion additional money, $2.3 trillion of the surplus. And so, it’s imminently affordable over the next ten years.

Candy Crowley: Okay, we’re going to talk about national debt. Phil from Georgia asks: How long will it take your economic plan to pay off the national debt?

George W. Bush: My economic plan pays down short-term debt when you lock box Social Security money. It pays down short-term debt. I intend to work with Congress to take whatever money is available to pay down debt after we get tax relief and after we’ve met spending priorities. I have no specific time in mind.

I do want to reiterate we do pay down short-term debt. But what I’m interested in is making sure our economy continues to grow. I believe that economic growth ought to be the first question any president asks himself.

And I also come from the school of thought that says by reducing marginal rates on the people who pay the taxes, you will enhance economic growth. Secondly, we’ve got to have free trade to enhance economic growth, and tort reform to encourage economic growth, as well as tax relief. But a tax relief package will encourage economic growth and the more the power grows, the less significant the debt becomes.

Candy Crowley: Further along the same lines, will you keep Alan Greenspan and follow his advice in order to avoid a stock market crash? That’s from Eric in Pennsylvania.

George W. Bush: Well, Eric’s got a good point, and he recognizes that Alan Greenspan has been an integral part of the economic growth in our nation. I don’t believe government creates wealth, for starters. But government can create an environment in which capital moves freely. And Alan Greenspan has done a good job from his perspective of helping the economy to grow. The president just reappointed Alan Greenspan. I supported the president’s decision. And I’ll have to make that decision about reappointing Mr. Greenspan if, and when, the time comes.

Candy Crowley: Do you think he…?

George W. Bush: I think he’s done a great job.

Candy Crowley: Okay, okay. Let me ask you the next question from Omar Shaker who wants to know if you can win an election without negative ads?

George W. Bush: You know, I guess it all depends on the definition of negative ads. I think comparative ads are fair. And I want to remind people, for example, when it comes to Medicare -- which is becoming a heated part of the debate -- that this administration’s had seven years to get something done. Seven years and nothing has happened. I don’t think that’s necessarily negative. I think that’s the truth; I think it’s a fact.

But I think that you can win a campaign without personally attacking an opponent. I did so when I ran against Governor Richards in the state of Texas. I was an upset victor. One of the reasons I was able to win is that I talked about what I want to do. And so that’s what I’m going to spend my time talking about -- what I want to do, should I be the president.

But I remind people there’s been squandered opportunity here in America. This administration has not led on crucial issues, and I intend to do so should I be the president.

Candy Crowley: So negative ads are sort of in the eye of the beholder?

George W. Bush: Well, yeah. I mean, for example, I may run an ad that says that nothing’s been done, that the administration’s failed to lead. Someone may call that negative; I would think that would be the truth.

Candy Crowley: Where do you think negative is?

George W. Bush: Personally attacking; you know, calling somebody names, I guess would be negative.

Candy Crowley: Does that make a difference?

George W. Bush: Well, I think if you say you’re going to do something and don’t do it, that’s trustworthiness. If you’re asking whether I’m going to attack President Clinton, I’m not going to attack President Clinton.

Candy Crowley: How about Al Gore?

George W. Bush: Well, I’m going to point out our differences. And remind people that -- just to give you an example -- this is an administration that campaigned on cutting taxes on the middle class in 1992. Incredibly enough, it's still part of their campaign in the year 2000. And the reason that it has to be is because they didn’t fulfill the promise in ’92. They didn’t cut taxes on the middle class in ’92; they raised taxes in ‘93. And I think it’s legitimate to point up the difference between rhetoric and reality.

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Candy Crowley: Pennsylvania is well represented on CNN. com. Daria wants to know which party you think will have a larger voter turnout?

George W. Bush: Which party?

Candy Crowley: Yes, which party?

George W. Bush: Well I certainly hope the Republican Party does.

Candy Crowley: Are you doing anything for voter turnout? I mean, what are your plans?

George W. Bush: Well, last night I attended a function to help the New Hampshire Republican Victory Committee -- raised some money to enhance its voter turnout mechanism. No question that voter turnout is going to be an important part of this election, particularly in the key electoral states, those states like Pennsylvania, where Daria is from. And yes, we’re spending a lot of time on grass roots, setting up our grass roots political teams, who will then work feverishly to turn out the vote come November.

Our party got away from that a little bit, I think, in the past. In other words, we weren’t as good as we used to be in grass roots politics. And turning out the vote’s going to be important.

But first and foremost, it requires a president, a candidate for president, who sets a positive tone and gives people a reason to vote for somebody, you know. And that’s what I’m going to continue doing.

Candy Crowley: Okay. Chris Moorhead from Michigan has a debate question: We heard you say that there will be debates and you look forward to them. Now, will you tell us specifically, will you debate Al Gore three times on primetime television?

George W. Bush: Oh, I intend to, you bet. We’re in the process of discussing the times with the different networks. I look forward to the debates. I do. And I would hope more people watch them than before. Why debate if you don’t want people to watch?

And I do want people to watch. I’ve got something to say and people are going to find there’s a stark contrast between me and my opponent. And I look forward to making those contrasts.

Candy Crowley: So would you prefer primetime, or will you want it to be in primetime?

George W. Bush: I want it to be in primetime.

Candy Crowley: So is it that you would prefer primetime or will you require primetime?

George W. Bush: Well, we’ll just see what the networks say. You may say, well, we want Candy Crowley to be the moderator of the debate, but we’d like to have it at noon to be replayed when we feel like it. I mean there’s a lot of discussion going on. But I hope it is primetime.

Candy Crowley: I’m sure they’re discussing that right now at CNN.

George W. Bush: Could be.

Candy Crowley: Jen from New Jersey: How do you plan to drive the voucher issue home against Al Gore? This, obviously, refers to school vouchers.

George W. Bush: First of all, her name is Jennifer?

Candy Crowley: Jen.

George W. Bush: Jen, the federal government should not mandate programs to states. In other words, states ought to choose whether or not they want school of choice programs.

But the way I’m going to talk about school choice is to say that if you receive federal money, you must show us whether or not students are learning. Notice I didn’t say "national test" or a "national curriculum" -- a national test, which would drive a national curriculum. I said you must show us.

There must be locally derived accountability measures. Remember yesterday in Portland, Maine, the superintendent was talking about how they were developing a locally derived accountability system to show the citizens in that community whether or not the children were learning or not learning median standards?

If you receive federal money and the standards are being met, great. But if you’re not meeting standards -- in other words, if we’re spending money on schools that will not teach children and standards are not being met -- instead of continuing to fund mediocrity at the federal level, we ought to say the money attributable -- the federal money attributable to that particular child -- should go to the parents. Then the parent can choose a tutoring program; could choose another public school or a charter school; could say, well, I’m tired of this, I want my child to go to a private school.

And to me, that’s how we should introduce competition at the federal level. It’s based upon a measurable standard, and it’s based upon accountability systems. And if states so choose to, you know, have more school choice than that, and they’re at their respected levels, like they do in Milwaukee, that’s fine with me. That’s up to the states to make that decision.

Candy Crowley: And to the criticism which we hear from teachers unions and from the Gore campaign, that what this does is pull money out of schools that most need it? Because we’re assuming that the people who would use the voucher system in our state would be the ones that want to get out of the school? So we’re talking about some of the poorest school districts. Isn’t what they need more funding, rather than less funding?

George W. Bush: I think we ought to spend more money at the federal level. I’ve certainly done that at the state level. But we should not be putting more money into a system that is not working. And the system is not working.

Remember, we’re going to have to set standards, and we’re going to give schools ample time to meet those standards. A three-year period is ample time. But if those standards aren’t met, why put money in a system that is not providing what we need in the society and that is producing an uneducated child?

And I agree with Senator Lieberman’s position on this. Senator Lieberman felt that when we find poor students trapped in failed schools, the parents ought to be given a different option.

I think we need to expand education savings accounts that will say to parents, you get to save not only for higher education but for K through 12, to save and then withdraw money on a tax-free basis to send your child to any school you see fit.

I think that’s another important ingredient. I want to make sure our public schools meet the promise. As governor of Texas, I have set high standards for our public schools, and I have met those standards.

And we’re now raising the standards again, so we continue to call upon the best, and our state provides some of the best education in the nation. This is not measured by us, but measured by, you know, the Rand Corporation or other folks, who take an objective look as to how states are doing when it comes to educating children.

Candy Crowley: Speaking of children, we have a sixth grader, Cecil from Texas.

George W. Bush: Good.

Candy Crowley: What do you plan to do about the violence in our society?

George W. Bush: Well, first and foremost, we must be a welcoming society where people are led to understand the value of life: that life is precious; that life is to be valued.

Secondly, I think that we can start by teaching the value of life and generosity and to be a welcoming society by having character education in our schools, welcoming faith-based programs and after-school programs. In other words, we can start with teaching our children right from wrong and decency at an early age. Our public education systems ought not to fear good, solid character education programs.

We also need to send a clear message to people where there is going to be a consequence if you break the law, and I mean serious consequences. There ought to be laws that clearly say that, you know, by the way, we don’t want certain people buying guns. There ought to be background checks where guns are sold. There ought to be trigger locks available to make guns more safe. You know, we’ve got to hold people accountable for the decisions they make.

Candy Crowley: Governor, there are people who, right now -- parents right now -- who are fearful of sending their child to school because of violence. In the interim, I mean character education takes years. As anyone who has been a parent understands, the sorts of things that you’re talking about take a little time to infuse into a society. Is there an immediate common idea or thought for parents who, right now, think: I’m about to send my child off to school, and I’m a little fearful of this.

George W. Bush: Yeah, there’s an immediate thought, and that is, that teachers ought to be free to enforce classroom discipline. And you know it is going to take a law, but we ought to limit the liability for teachers who strictly enforce classroom discipline.

There’s a lot of teachers and principles and school officials who get sued for enforcing standards of discipline in the classroom, and we ought to limit that liability, so that a teacher or a school district can feel free to enforce the discipline.

In my state of Texas, we understood, though, that when you enforce discipline in the classroom, you just can’t put the kid on the street. There has to be alternative places, and we’ve got alternative schools. We’ve got boot camps. We’ve got to beef up the juvenile justice system. Obviously, where the person goes depends upon the nature of the offense committed.

Candy Crowley: Okay, let's get another of our dot-com participants. This is Maxine in New York: Why won’t you support common sense gun laws?

George W. Bush: I do support common sense gun laws, Maxine. I believe that we ought to have instant background checks where guns are sold, including gun shows. Part of the issue in gun shows is, in order to access the instant background check system, you must have a federal license. I believe there is a way to grant temporary federal licenses, if need be, to gun show operators to make sure that people who purchase guns at gun shows have their backgrounds checked.

I think that we need to enforce law if we catch people illegally selling guns, as well. I think Texas is one of the few states that is distributing trigger locks for free, so citizens who worry about gun safety can come and get a trigger lock. We just started that program a couple of months ago and it says, if you want to make your guns more safe, here’s a trigger lock for you. Please use it.

Candy Crowley: A lot of people think that gun registration is an answer. You are opposed to that?

George W. Bush: I don’t think it’ll work. I think it’s nice, it sounds nice politically for some, but it’s not going to work. As opposed to registering, we ought to make sure guns don’t get in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them in the first place, and we ought to enforce law through the other programs like Project EXILE, which is a federal program initiated first in Virginia, that uses resources and manpower to focus on gun violators. And we are doing that in the state of Texas now as well.

Candy Crowley: Why do you think registration wouldn’t work?

George W. Bush: Because it’s focusing attention and resources in the wrong place. Why make the innocent law abiding citizens register? Why don’t we go after violators, people who commit crimes with guns? Those are the people that need to be held accountable.

Candy Crowley: And let's just take another dot-com question. From Washington, D.C., Mark: Do you support price controls on prescription drugs?

George W. Bush: No, I don’t. I think price controls would lead to a shortage. It would prevent the necessary research and development from going forward, and I say "necessary" because so much of medicine has shifted dramatically from the old way of doing things to the use of drug therapies. And I think in order to stay on the leading edge of medicine, we ought to encourage more research and development by our pharmaceutical companies.

What I am for is changing the Medicare system to allow seniors to have more options from which to choose -- a Medicare system that’s so antiquated that many procedures are denied seniors, and there is no prescription drug benefit in the plan today.

I think we ought to have prescription drug benefits available for seniors in basic health care plans from which they get to choose, similar to the federal employees. I think we need to make sure that poor seniors have their premiums enhanced by the federal government. But I don’t think we ought to have price controls.

Candy Crowley: And, as I understand it, you wouldn’t want a prescription drug program under Medicare that gives seniors prescription drugs. It would be what, a graduated plan for the more money a senior made, the larger share of the prescription drugs?

George W. Bush: Well it depends upon the program. In other words, we’re going to open up the Medicare system to competition, to competitive bidding, and all the plans offered will have prescription drug benefits. And seniors will be able to pick and choose the plan that meets their needs.

This is very similar to the federal employee system where a federal employee is able to design the program that meets his needs. The more elaborate your program -- your health care program -- obviously, the more you will have to pay out of pocket. But the basic program will be covered for the poor seniors.

Candy Crowley: Shirley from Georgia: If elected, will you support selection of Supreme Court judges who will eliminate Roe vs. Wade?

George W. Bush: If elected, I’ll support Supreme Court judges who will strictly interpret the Constitution.

Candy Crowley: And do judges who strictly interpret the Constitution want to overturn Roe vs. Wade?

George W. Bush: Let me put it to Shirley this way: We will not have a litmus test for my judges. I don’t think there ought to be a litmus test for judges except for whether or not the judge will, you know, strictly interpret the Constitution, and will not use the bench from which to write social policy.

Candy Crowley: Okay. Let’s take another one, which is topic de jour. Where do you stand on Internet taxing? It’s from Andrew in North Carolina.

George W. Bush: It’s this topic, the topic of the moment. I believe we ought to have a moratorium on Internet taxing, a moratorium that will extend another three to five years. And the reason I believe that is I think that it is too early to make a policy decision as to what the ultimate effects will be on E-commerce relative to the brick and mortar stores around America.

Candy Crowley: As a governor, are you sympathetic to the fear that this takes taxes, sales taxes?

George W. Bush: It erodes the sales tax.

Candy Crowley: From the state?

George W. Bush: I’m mindful of the potential. But I think it is too early to make that determination.

Candy Crowley: So you think it just needs some shakedown?

George W. Bush: We need more time to find out exactly. Before we make a major policy decision on taxation, I think we need to get together more data points.

Candy Crowley: Okay. Do you consider yourself as knowledgeable in world affairs as your opponent, Al Gore?

George W. Bush: I consider myself to be fully prepared to lead when it comes to foreign affairs. A president must have a clear vision of what he intends to do. I intend to promote prosperity through free trade and a system that encourages the reduction of barriers and tariffs around the world.

I want to expand NAFTA in our own hemisphere. I want the president to have fast-track negotiating authority, so he can negotiate -- immediately begin negotiations with Chile, for example, about a free trade agreement. I think prosperity will be enhanced by trade.

And secondly, I want the world to be more peaceful, but that’s going to require a United States that’s not arrogant in it’s use of power -- humble in it’s use of power -- but a powerful United States.

I worry about morale in the military today. I recognize our military forces are strong, stronger than any other nation, but I worry about the longer term. So I’m going to rebuild the military power in order to keep the peace.

We need to have an anti-ballistic missile system to meet the new threats of the 21^st Century -- the new threats being rogue nations, the accidental launch of weaponry or a rogue nation holding us hostage.

I want to build up our alliances, but we can’t be all things to all people. We can’t be peacekeepers in every place around the nation. I want our missions to be well focused and to have exit strategies when we commit troops. And so, you bet, I look forward to the opportunity to be the president, particularly when it comes to foreign policy.

Candy Crowley: And just a follow-up, we’ve got a couple questions off the dot-com on this same subject. Thomas in Connecticut asks: What steps do you propose to build up U.S. military forces?

George W. Bush: Well, first, better pay. And, secondly -- and that’s a billion dollars a year above the current pay, on top of the current pay increase that Congress passed and the president signed -- $20 billion a year for research and development. It’s over a five-year period of time to begin the process of refashioning our military.

And I say "refashion" to make sure the military of the future is a military that is more likely to keep the peace, a military that is harder to find, a military that would be much more lethal and a military that would be focused on being able to move troops in a very quick way. And it’s going to require a strategic plan that says to the Congress and the country, here’s what the military ought to look like.

Another way to boost morale and to rebuild the spirit of the country is to stop endless deployments, to review every one of our missions where we’ve got troops overseas and to focus the military. In other words, it is not to constantly deploy troops, because the deployment of troops creates discontent among our soldiers. It’s harder for the soldiers to stay married, for example, when there are endless deployments.

I’m aware of the commitments the president has made. I’ll be mindful of those commitments, for example in the Balkans, but I would hope to be able to convince our friends and allies to start being peacekeepers in that part of the region, as opposed to us.

I like the Timor model, for example, where the United States helped the nation of Australia keep the peace in East Timor. We provided needed logistical support, but we didn’t actually put peacekeepers on the ground.

And so, it’s a long answer. Some of it’s pay, some of it’s focusing the mission and some of it’s planning for the long-term for the military.

Candy Crowley: Looking back on the domestic side of it, from Beverly in Nevada: Do you have any plans to announce who you’d like to have in your administration?

George W. Bush: Well, you know, a lot of people have asked me about that, whether I would be willing to name a Cabinet ahead of time. I’m not so sure it’s within the law to do so, for starters. I think there’s a spirit, at least, in the law not to -- not to a letter of the law -- that says, if you offer political jobs to somebody in the course of a campaign, you know it will be viewed as unsavory conduct. I guess that's the best way to put it.

But I would hope that people could tell at our convention that the people who showed up at our convention might be some who would be willing to serve in our administration, if asked.

Obviously, the first person, besides my wife, who kicked off the convention was Colin Powell, and he’s a great American. I have -- you know, I’m not in the position of offering jobs -- but he indicated that if he was offered a job, he might seriously consider it. And for that, I was most grateful.

Candy Crowley: Governor, a wrap-up question for you: What impact do you think the Internet has on campaigns at this point? Do you think it affects the 2000 campaign?

George W. Bush: I think some, I do. We get thousands of hits on our Web page at our headquarters in Austin, Texas. It’s a great way to communicate with people in the field. It’s a great way to hand out issue papers. It’s a great way to tell people what I believe, and it’s also a wonderful way to get feedback. And I think it can.

I think it’s just a beginning, though, of changing elections for the long term. I mean, there’s no telling how candidates are eventually going to communicate with voters. I think the Internet is going to be a useful tool.

Candy Crowley: Governor George W. Bush, thank you for joining us on this excellent adventure. And we thank our participants, our viewers and our listeners. CNN has issued a similar invitation to Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore for an online/on-air news interview.

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