BUSH TRIPS, STUMBLES AND FALLS IN SNUB OF JOURNALISTS

SEATTLE -- It was inevitable. Texas Gov. George W. Bush, practically anointed as the GOP presidential nominee, has made a dumb mistake in his dealings with people of color. Bush rejected an invitation to address a combined convention of four leading minority journalism groups, even though he was scheduled to be in the city at the same time as the UNITY '99 conference.

A Bush campaign spokesperson initially said the GOP front-runner's schedule was overbooked and he had no time to attend. After a bit of a controversy, Bush found the time to put in a 15-minute appearance at the convention on Thursday, a tepid attempt at damage control. But his hurried walk-through, with reporters yelling questions in his wake, served only to highlight the initial snub.

The Texas governor has tried hard to distinguish himself from the garden-variety conservative Republican, the type who seems uncomfortable with people of color, unenthusiastic about diversity, and unable to comprehend the everyday slights that frustrate the hopes and ambitions of America's minority citizens. Bush has courted minority votes, spoken out against immigrant-bashing, and studiously avoided taking a position on sweeping anti-affirmative efforts such as California's Proposition 209.

But Bush made himself appear very much the typical, small-tent Republican when he turned down an invitation to speak at a conference combining the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association and the Native American Journalists Association, an event that has attracted an estimated 6,000 journalists.

Indeed, while all the announced GOP and Democratic candidates were invited months ago, according to Unity '99 officials, only Democrats Al Gore and Bill Bradley accepted. After initially declining the invitation, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., showed up Thursday to address the convention. He said that he had read newspaper coverage of the event and decided his earlier rejection was a mistake.

The GOP's failure to get it -- its lack of interest in voters of color -- is one of the enduring mysteries of modern politics. Quiet as the fact is kept, many voters of color hold conservative views on social issues. Many African-Americans, for example, oppose abortion and support the death penalty. They would make natural GOP voters. But the Republican Party cannot resist sending out signals that it would just as soon not open its tent to the darker-skinned.

It is still early in the campaign for Bush, who might simply be suffering the inevitable lapses of a neophyte in his first encounter with political prime time. He can recover from this mistake and will probably now redouble his efforts to court voters of color. He still has a better grasp than most members of his party on the increasing importance of minority constituencies.

However, if Bush is forced to pander to the sensibilities of his party's right wing, he will have a tough time persuading ethnic minority groups of his sincerity. Take the issue of hate-crime legislation. After the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas, a hate-crime bill died in the Texas Legislature without the governor's taking a stand on it.

But Bush will not be able to escape the issue. A week ago, Benjamin N. Smith, a 21-year-old student, killed a black man and a Korean and wounded nine others -- Jews, Asians and blacks -- in a chilling barrage of racist violence. If nothing else, Smith reminded people of color of a common vulnerability to bigotry. It should have also given Bush the courage to speak out.