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Bush has a talent for convincing himself that his motives are pure. When he nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, for example, he was asked whether it mattered to him that Thomas was black. "I picked the best man for the job," Bush declared, adding that if Thomas happened to be black and maintained a black presence on the high court, "so much the better." That would seem to be Bush's attitude toward racial code. When his campaign harps on Willie Horton, Bush believes he is only making a point about crime. If some voters find the pitch more persuasive because Horton is black -- well, so much the better.