[Cincinatus]

Bush would have been skewered as a heartless, venal aristocrat had he given your answer.

Of course he would have by the MSM. That would just add even more to his vote totals.

The big problem GHWB had in '92 was that the GOP base couldn't get enthused about him. And they felt betrayed by his tax increase. He could have won back their hearts with a good answer to the pony-tailed guy. And in that, I include a lot of the Perot voters.

[Cedric]

The premise is the Clintonistas and the DBM plated the pony tail guy to show how in-touch Bubba was and how out-of- touch, cold and insensitive, by contrast, Bush was. Clinton, of course, won praise for his “feel your pain” answer. The Clintonistas were praying {to Satan, no doubt} that Bush would give them a double-whammy by answering as you advocate.
Thankfully, Bush didn’t take the bait.