n Feb. 3, 1998, as a bloodthirsty mob of Texans bayed outside a prison in Huntsville, Tex., Gov. George W. Bush defied the appeals of religious conservatives and ordered the execution of Karla Faye Tucker, a convicted ax murderer who found God on Death Row. 
It must have been a tough decision for Bush, the Rev. Billy Graham, who opposed the execution, said later. “He has a lot of compassion.”
Or maybe not. In a now-famous interview in Talk magazine, Bush mocked Tucker’s final pleas for mercy. He also derided talk show host Larry King for conveying Tucker’s appeal to the public. “He asked her real difficult questions like, ‘What would you say to Gov. Bush?’” Bush told interviewer Tucker Carlson.
Carlson wondered what the doomed woman had said in reply and recorded Bush’s response: “‘Please,’” Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, “‘don’t kill me.’”
In fact, this precise exchange never occurred on the Larry King show. King, however, did ask Tucker whether she wanted to live. She replied, “Yes, I do want to.”
In Bush, Republicans have a well-funded, seemingly unstoppable front-runner for the presidential nomination. Now, if only they can hide him until Election Day. He may be the biggest threat to his own candidacy.
The big hoo-ha over whether Bush used cocaine is trivial compared with his mockery of Tucker. The worst mistake a politician can make is to validate the public’s caricature image of him.
Dan Quayle, suspected of being a lightweight, never survived his “potatoe” problem. Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, one of the nicest guys in politics, lived up to a low-rent image when he called then-Rep. Chuck Shumer a “putzhead” — and lost his seat to Schumer.
Bush, now trying to prove he is a “compassionate conservative,” labors under the public impression that he might, at heart, be a wise-guy frat boy whose way through life has been paved by his father and wealthy supporters.
His wise-guy, frat boy remarks about Tucker surely cast doubt on how compassionate this conservative is. And the fact that he would sneer about a life-and-death issue to a reporter shows that he may not be able to survive under even routine public pressure.
Bad enough that Bush mocked Tucker in his conversation with Carlson. Imagine if he had said those cruel words with a camera running and a microphone turned on. Imagine if America could then see the face of this privileged prince as he sneered at a dead woman’s last plea for life. His political life would be over.
It is not merely opponents of the death penalty whom Bush offended. Gary Bauer, a Christian conservative who is also seeking the GOP nomination, called Bush’s remarks “inappropriate, disgusting and profoundly disturbing.”
Bush admits he spent a rowdy youth in college, had help getting into the National Guard during the Vietnam War, drank too much, may have taken drugs and has been known to use foul language. None of that matters very much — although if youthful drug use is a forgivable transgression, Bush might consider granting pardons to all those Texans who have felony criminal records for doing exactly what he did. 
But his attitude toward Tucker is not ancient history. He executed her in 1998, and he mocked her six weeks ago. This is George W. Bush today.