Bush has kept quiet on many national issues.

AGENDA

Well before George W. Bush entered the presidential race, he had a formidable early lead. But he's been reluctant to speak out on many national issues.

His Record
No one knows whether Bush can cut it as a national candidate because he's never run for national office. He has never sampled the big time except as a loyalty enforcer on his father's 1988 presidential campaign. For now, he hopes that his record as Texas governor will serve as his introduction to voters.

He knows his political record is appealing: the first Texan to win back-to-back four-year terms, a Republican who appeals to Hispanic voters, who appeals to female voters. And he hopes his government record, stressing education reform and cutting taxes, will help solidify his support in the party while putting him in a good, centrist position against, Al Gore, the likely Democratic nominee.

Hot-Button Issues
On sensitive issues in the GOP, such as abortion and gun control, Bush has managed to essentially adhere to party orthodoxy. He speaks openly about his religious faith and opposes abortion. At the same time, he has said that the party needs to acknowledge differences of opinion on the issue, and he cast doubt on the potential for a constitutional amendment banning abortion.

On gun control, Bush differed with the majority of Senate Republicans when he favored instant background checks for weapons purchased at gun shows, but eventually GOP senators also came to embrace that view.

Taxes
Bush got a $1 billion property-tax cut from his legislature in 1997. "It's an article of faith, in Republican primaries, that you have to be against taxes," says Austin strategist Bill Miller, who has worked for both parties. "And when he gets out there and talks up his tax cuts as 'the largest in state history,' that's a great sound bite."

The facts are more complicated, however. Few Texans saved any money in 1997, because the tax cut largely evaporated when local school districts had to raise their rates to compensate for lost revenue. And in his original plan that year, Bush had proposed to create some new business levies. It didn't happen, but his conservative rivals could use that to sow doubt about his credentials.

Reggie Bashur, a strategist who helped elect Bush in 1994, says voters won't care that the '97 tax cut didn't really happen: "What matters is that getting the tax cut was concrete evidence of his philosophy and approach."

Foreign Policy
What about foreign policy? No one knows. He has no experience in this area.