EATTLE - The backlash began yesterday, and not against George W. Bush.
In interviews here, Republicans and Democratic voters alike, even Green Party supporters, forgave the Texas governor for driving under the influence of alcohol 24 years ago. In America's Oprah-fied culture of confession and redemption, they commended the honesty he displayed when caught. Not a single vote for him appeared in peril.
Instead, the Republicans shopping or strolling alone South Main Street on the edge of Seattle's downtown used Bush's arrest to recall President Clinton's White House transgressions, as well as one man's instinct to admit guilt, another's to deny. Democrats fretted that both Republicans and undecided voters would blame Vice President Al Gore's campaign for the disclosure in the last days of the race, strengthening Bush's base and sending ballots his way.
For their part, Ralph Nader supporters simply shrugged, saying the to-the-end backbiting only underscored their unhappiness with the two major political parties. Heading into the final weekend, Washington remained as much a battleground state as ever.
''It's absolutely not going to make a difference in how I vote,'' said David Sharman, 40, a self-described diehard Republican who handles deliveries for the Seattle Fire Department. ''Things change. People change. Twenty-four years is a lifetime ago. He'd already said there were things in his past he's not fired up about. And he came clean right away.''
None of the two dozen Seattle residents and out-of-town visitors interviewed along South Main, known locally as a liberal hangout, was bothered that Bush had not announced on his own that he once pleaded guilty to a DUI charge. ''Who would?'' they asked. Bush himself said he had kept the incident quiet to protect his twin daughters.
Ginger Brown, a 33-year-old fund-raiser voting for Gore, summed up the attitude of many others on the street. ''It happened a long time ago, and it's a private affair,'' she said. ''You have to be a little generous and forgiving, even though he probably wouldn't be. It's just more evidence that American elections are down and dirty, never about who's the most qualified.''
Some Democrats and Nader supporters, however, did tag Bush a hypocrite for drinking while driving, and later referring to that sort of behavior as a youthful mistake. Bush was 30 in 1976 when he was pulled over by police when visiting his parents in Kennebunkport, Maine. He has previously spoken of giving up alcohol in 1986 when he turned 40.
''I don't think it affects anything about the election, but it does call to mind the whole character issue he's always talking about,'' said Rafael Agudo, 35, a hospital technician who this week cast an absentee ballot for Gore. ''Drinking while driving does have something to do with character.''
Where Main dead-ends near Elliott Bay, Frank Nelson, a fisherman with a college degree in psychology, and Dan Paulen, a sometime fisherman who also does temporary work, got into a loud argument over what Bush's behavior does or does not say about the presidential hopeful, if anything. Nelson, 37 and supporting Gore, offered it as one more piece of proof that Bush has one standard for himself and another for others. Paulen, 38 and backing Bush, saw otherwise.
''And Bill Clinton smoked pot but didn't inhale,'' Paulen said. ''Obviously character has not been an issue for eight years.''
Added Frank Oliva, 55, a civil engineer and Republican visiting from Hawaii: ''I'm just glad it wasn't on the front page. It's ludicrous that this is even being brought up, especially when you consider what's gone on in the White House.''
Inside the sprawling Elliott Bay Book Co., a browser who asked to be identified only as Gary because he is a Democrat living in a rural part of Washington that is ultraconservative, said he suspects the last-second disclosure will rally voters around Bush.
''People will think what a great guy he is and what a terrible thing [someone who supports] that rat Gore did to him," said Gary, 50, who works in the agricultural support industry. ''It's the psyche of Americans to like the underdog.''
Oliver Gilliland, a sales representative from Oakland, Calif., who has cast an absentee ballot for Gore, said what appeared at first glimpse to be a snag in Bush's campaign could work to the candidate's advantage.
''He handled it really well,'' said Gilliland, 52. ''It's the way I wish Clinton and Gore had handled some of their faux pas. Americans are very forgiving if you're honest about your mistakes.''
