] Before there was Karl Rove, Lee Atwater or even James
] Baker, the Bush family's political guru was a gregarious
] newspaper owner and campaign consultant from Midland,
] Texas, named Jimmy Allison. In the spring of 1972, George
] H.W. Bush phoned his friend and asked a favor: Could
] Allison find a place on the Senate campaign he was
] managing in Alabama for his troublesome eldest son, the
] 25-year-old George W. Bush?
]
]
] "The impression I had was that Georgie was raising a lot
] of hell in Houston, getting in trouble and embarrassing
] the family, and they just really wanted to get him out of
] Houston and under Jimmy's wing," Allison's widow, Linda,
] told me. "And Jimmy said, 'Sure.' He was so loyal."
]
]
] Linda Allison's story, never before published,
] contradicts the Bush campaign's assertion that George W.
] Bush transferred from the Texas Air National Guard to the
] Alabama National Guard in 1972 because he received an
] irresistible offer to gain high-level experience on the
] campaign of Bush family friend Winton "Red" Blount. In
] fact, according to what Allison says her late husband
] told her, the younger Bush had become a political
] liability for his father, who was then the United States
] ambassador to the United Nations, and the family wanted
] him out of Texas. "I think they wanted someone they
] trusted to keep an eye on him," Linda Allison said.

A very interesting read but I don't know that those who are polarized for Bush will pay much attention. The crap that the Swift Boat Veterans pulled on Kerry had its effect but for some reason Bush has been able to remain teflon coated when it comes to his National Guard issues. This interview, plus the upcoming "60 Minutes" interview on Wednesday with the former Lt. Governor of Texas that admits he pulled strings to get Dubya in the Guard will probably just work to make more anti-Bush people to actually vote. If it works, great.

George W. Bush's missing year