PHILADELPHIA - The Bush family has kept a low press profile at this week's Republican National Convention, but Wednesday night America (dossier) reeled in Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, brother of the presumed nominee, for a brief online chat.
Propped on a tall chair and peering down at a laptop screen through silver reading glasses, the younger Bush answered a dozen questions from AOL subscribers who were gathered virtually in the service's special politics chat room.
The chat was run from AOL's crowded skybox at the convention, situated almost behind the podium in the convention center - a much smaller and less visible presence than the boxes of the major TV and radio networks.
Jeb was the most prominent member of the Bush family to make an online appearance. On Wednesday and Thursday, rumors circulated that the candidate himself, George W. Bush, might walk through Internet Alley where online political Web sites are based, but all was quiet at midday.
During Bush's online chat, he focused like a laser on the questions and carefully formulated his answers (dictated to an AOL staffer sitting at the laptop). Just below, the convention floor was going wild in anticipation of VP nominee Dick Cheney's address.
In a playful mood, Bush reacted in mock alarm when the typist misspelled the word "succinct" in one of his answers. "Don't you have a spell check in AOL?" he asked.
The questions were mostly softballs, including topics like gun control, Bush's interest in politics and advice for young people interested in running for office. Like more typical press conferences with journalists, the online chatters wanted Bush to answer "just one more" as he prepared to leave. "They even have 'one more question' on the Internet," he noted.
AOL officials said they wouldn't know how many subscribers attended the online session for a few days but estimated the number to be in the thousands.
As he left, Gov. Bush made a prediction to the AOL staff that the Internet would have a greater place in future elections. "Four years from now, you'll be in the primo spot," he said earnestly, but the staff laughed. "That's why I came early," he added, emphasizing his seriousness.
