The morning after the New York Post published charges that George Bush had an extramarital affair, Noelle Bush, 15, asked her grandmother what all the fuss was about. As the two sat by the White House pool Wednesday morning, Barbara Bush explained that the newspapers were reporting that Noelle's grandfather allegedly had a fling with a former staff member eight years earlier. "Come on, Ganny," said the girl. "That's what they're saying," Mrs. Bush replied. When Noelle broke into giggles, the First Lady upbraided her in mock horror. "That's sort of insulting to your grandfather." Replied Noelle: "That is so funny." Recounting the exchange a few hours later, the First Lady concluded, "Well, I guess he looks ancient to her."
Score one more for Barbara Bush, master of the self-deprecating gesture -- particularly in the midst of a crisis that might cause other political spouses to lose their sangfroid. In the course of two days, her husband faced accusations of adultery, backpedaled on abortion and overhauled his political team. Mrs. Bush leaped into the fray herself, staking out a position on abortion well to the President's left, criticizing a top Bush aide in public, and then getting in a lick or two of her own at Bill Clinton. "I'm feisty as the dickens," she said in an interview with newsmagazine correspondents.
In a year when both parties are trying to appeal to disenchanted voters, Republican officials are hoping that Barbara Bush -- who is roughly twice as popular as her husband -- can bring back many of the disaffected when she speaks in Houston this week. Convention planners say they are counting on Mrs. Bush's 10-minute remarks -- and a five-minute talk by Marilyn Quayle -- to be nearly as appealing to female voters as her husband's much longer make-or- break address. "We sometimes fantasize," said a campaign official, "what it would be like to have Barbara and Marilyn on the ticket."
Ever since the Clarence Thomas hearings last fall, the Republican Party has been struggling to overcome the perception that its regard for women is only a notch or two higher than that of the Navy's Tailhook Association. The hearings galvanized a long-struggling movement to put more women into the House and Senate, and Democrats have rushed to showcase a sizable ballot of women candidates. But the G.O.P. is woefully short on female office seekers, which is one reason why it is calling on Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Quayle to take high- profile convention roles for the first time. In addition, the two women can play the party's family-values card in a way their husbands cannot.
By an ironic quirk of timing, Mrs. Bush was preparing her speech when the latest round of adultery stories erupted. But she was bearing up proudly in an interview the next day. "You know, we're talking about people's lives," she said. "It's really not a very nice thing. I should quickly tell you that the fact this comes up every four years is not an enormous surprise to me, but it's a disappointing one . . . I know it's a lie, so it doesn't bother me. But it bothers me that we've come to this."