Stand-Up For Her Man

By Matthew Cooper

The White House theater was not built for stand-up comedy. But two Fridays ago, Laura Bush was definitely, as they say at the Friars Club, "in the house." She was practicing a then secret, now acclaimed comedy routine that she would deliver the next night at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, a tribal feast on the Potomac where some 3,000 reporters--and their sources--converge in a hotel ballroom for steak and fish, wine and laughs. Traditionally, the President does the wisecracking. But earlier this year, after surveying the string of press dinners on his calendar, Bush told aides, "Laura should give one of these." So there she was, rehearsing her shtick in front of her staff and Bush aides Nicolle Devenish and Dan Bartlett, as well as Landon Parvin, who penned her jokes. As she practiced, Laura cracked herself up but also asked her audience, "Do y'all think this is funny?"

They did, and they weren't alone. Mrs. Bush brought down the house the next night with a string of withering one-liners that skewered her husband's sleeping (and, well, never mind) habits, her in-laws' hyperkinetic vacation style, the Vice President's seemingly willful resistance to exercise and, of course, her own poor, pitiful plight as a long-suffering spouse. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife," she deadpanned. "I mean, if those women on that show think they're desperate, they oughta be with George." If the performance turns out to be Laura's most memorable, it was also a reminder that the least outspoken First Lady since Pat Nixon nonetheless plays a crucial role in her husband's presidency, reminding his critics that someone can, if nothing else, bring him down to size. Plus, she's the ultimate character witness. A Republican lobbyist remarked after her performance, "He must not be all bad if she likes him."

The comic tonic came at a helpful moment for the Bush operation, which is off to one of the slowest second-term starts in memory. The President's plan for an overhaul of Social Security is flat on its back, and most Washington Republicans privately say it's unlikely to get back up. Bush's popularity is sagging again, as gasoline prices have jumped, the economy has struggled to show sustained momentum, and American casualties in Iraq are mounting. Several veteran reporters at the White House correspondents' dinner noted that one reason the comedy routine fell to Laura was that Bush didn't have much to joke about.

But it is also true that Laura has avoided the dusty cables that have tripped up other contemporary First Ladies. It's not easy in the modern age to find a role that's supportive but not threatening, true to oneself and helpful to the elected spouse. The First Lady--the title itself is a quaint anachronism--is scrutinized like the heroine of an Edith Wharton novel for any flaw, real or perceived. Nancy Reagan got in trouble for ordering high-priced china during a recession. Barbara Bush was poked for being far frostier behind the scenes than her doting public persona suggested, a point Laura gently affirmed to her audience when she said her mother-in-law is less grandmother and more Don Corleone. (Barbara is telling Houston friends she loved the routine and has taken to calling herself the Don.) For her part, Hillary Clinton underestimated public resistance to her role as a policymaker. By the perverse logic of the job, Laura's great achievement is that she hasn't tried to have one--which is why she is a success. But what, really, is Laura's role? Chiefly, she has three functions.

SHE IS AN ENVOY TO PURPLE AMERICA

Laura can't win over the Bush haters. But a comedy routine that was at times racy is a reminder that Laura is not a founding member of Focus on the Family. Whatever hard-core Democrats may imagine, she has never been a nodding Stepford wife. Her bookshelves contain Gore Vidal and The Da Vinci Code. In Austin, Texas, she had out-there, colorful friends like Kinky Friedman, the writer-musician who toured with his band the Texas Jewboys. She told TIME last year that she had no problem with a gay couple staying at the White House, although she wouldn't necessarily know their sexual orientation because she's too decorous to ask.

Besides, there's a long-standing Bush tradition of winking at the country, particularly when the family has to pay homage to the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Laura's earthy jokes--for instance, about Bush knowing so little about animals he once tried to milk a male horse--all but said, "We're not as different from you as you think. So don't be afraid." Laura and her mother-in-law Barbara both have signaled that they are pro choice on abortion, despite what their husbands may think.

SHE PUTS A SOFTER FACE ON HIS POLICIES

Laura has her causes, from discouraging kids from joining gangs to promoting literacy. They didn't garner a lot of attention when the President's agenda was working, but they could matter more if his policies continue to sputter. She and all the living First Ladies will donate red dresses this week to raise money to promote her campaign to combat heart disease. She will travel to Jordan later this month to deliver a speech on democracy at the World Economic Forum. And in a gambit previewed by Barbara Bush more than 15 years ago, the President's team will roll out Laura when nothing else is working. When the re-election campaign was in trouble last year, Laura showed up in her husband's TV ads, first as a quick, cutaway picture on his desk and then with speaking roles, as aides realized how her power registered with focus groups. "She's obviously the most popular figure in politics today," says Matthew Dowd, Bush's campaign pollster. "It's clear a lot of people who don't like the President like her. She adds to the President's humanity."

SHE IS HIS GREATEST DEFENDER

Laura has been saving Bush for decades. She persuaded him to stop drinking on his 40th birthday. He converted to her Methodism, giving him the religious faith that has guided his remarkable trajectory. At the moment she has no plans to campaign for his signature, second-term Social Security proposal, but a senior White House official says, "We're not ruling anything out."

Like her mother-in-law, Laura is a shrewd defender of the President's agenda. She stepped up to support his strict position against federal funding for research on new embryonic stem cells, and she created a stir last year when she told TIME that she approved of the Swift Boat ads against John Kerry. (She noted that the Democrats deserved them for not opposing independent 527 groups.) Even after the correspondents' dinner, the First Lady waxed serious, testifying to what a joy her husband is. All that remained was for Bush to provide the final touch, noting a few days later in a malapropism so goofy it may just have been intended: "My wife has become quite a one-liner." --With reporting by John F. Dickerson/ Washington

With reporting by John F. Dickerson/ Washington