Bush pops in on Unity 99

Catalina Camina, left, Unity 99 President and Asian American Journalists Assoc. President, gestures while talking with presidential hopeful George W. Bush. At right, presidential hopeful Bill Bradley addresses the conference on Thursday. (photos by Darla Leslie and Eustacio Humphrey/Unity News)

By Stefanie Wong
Unity 99 Convention Online Staff

Republican presidential hopeful George W. Bush made a brief appearance at Unity '99 on Thursday after previously declining to speak at the conference.

Bush spent a few minutes in the job fair area shaking hands and speaking to individuals who approached him.

The current governor of Texas was already scheduled to campaign in Seattle during the convention, but his aides said he was too busy to drop in the conference - a decision that that drew criticism from some of the 6,000 journalists attending Unity '99.

Bush changed his mind and decided to stop in at the conference after reading an article that ran in the Los Angeles Times that described the controversy. "We read the L.A. Times story this morning and people were saying it was an important signal to send, so he decided to make the effort, said Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes in an interview with the L.A. Times.

All the presidential candidates were invited to participate in the conference but only democratic candidates Vice President Al Gore and former Sen. Bill Bradley, who addressed the conference yesterday, initially accepted. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona also spoke at the conference yesterday.