To rephrase the title question, Did George Bush deliberately distance himself from

Ronald Reagan, and, if so, is that what cost him the 1992 election? Miss Noonan had

written celebrated speeches for both men, including the line "Read my lips"--brilliantly

effective at the time, devastating in retrospect after President Bush broke his no-new-

taxes pledge. This half-hour offers a stimulating conversation on the modes and

substance of presidential public appearances. PN: "I sometimes thought that [Mr. Bush]

might have been somewhat traumatized ... He saw in the Reagan White House a great

deal of attention being paid by Mike Deaver and Jim Baker to--almost the aesthetics of

an event: to the balloons falling; to the Dover Cliffs; to where the President will stand. I

think Reagan could look at all that stuff and think: 'Well, here we are communicating,

and this is how you do it in a sophisticated world.' George Bush would look and think:

'This isn't genuine, it isn't real, I don't like it, and I'm recoiling from it.' "