Governor George W. Bush tried to shake off the revelation that he was convicted of drunk driving 24 years ago as he campaigned in the closing days of the presidential election campaign.
The Bush campaign accused its opponents of "last-minute dirty tricks" and "playing `gotcha' politics" but the Gore camp strongly denied any involvement in the release of information about the Bush conviction.
Political commentators speculated that the incident would not have a major influence with voters, most of whom have made up their minds at this late stage. National polls show Mr Bush slightly ahead, but they were taken before the news broke on Thursday night.
But Mr Bush was criticised by some of his own supporters for not coming clean about his conviction early in his campaign to get it out of the way. His running mate, Mr Dick Cheney, when nominated as Secretary of Defence in 1988, admitted to two drunken-driving convictions when he was in his 20s.
Mr Bush immediately confirmed to the media that he had been arrested for drunken driving during the Labour Day weekend in 1976 in Kennebunkport, Maine, where he was staying at the family holiday home. He was 30 at the time.
He said he had been drinking in a bar and had been stopped by police when driving home after "a few beers".
Also in the car were the Australian tennis star, John Newcombe, his wife and Mr Bush's sister. Mr Bush failed a roadside test and was arrested and brought to the local police station. His blood alcohol content was .10, which, at the time, was the level considered "under the influence".
He was released on a $500 bail and later fined $150 and had his driving privileges in Maine suspended for 30 days.
Mr Calvin Bridges, the policeman who arrested Mr Bush, told local radio in Maine that he is now afraid of being made "a political pawn". Asked about Mr Bush's behaviour, Mr Bridges replied: "The man was, and I say this without being facetious, a picture of integrity. He gave no resistance. He was very co-operative."
Mr Bridges said that in 1993, former President Bush and his wife Barbara "thanked me for the way I handled it". They said it was "part of the learning process" for their son.
Mr Bush said he had frequently admitted that he had drunk too much in the past and that he had given up alcohol 14 years ago. He questioned the timing of the revelation just five days before the election. He said he had not publicly admitted it before "because I didn't want my girls doing the kind of things I did and I told them not to drink and drive."
The Bush camp's suspicions of Democratic dirty tricks were increased yesterday when the main source of the revelation turned out to be Mr Tom Connolly, a lawyer in Maine who ran for Governor as a Democratic activist and attended the Democratic Convention last August.
Mr Connolly said he got a tip-off on Thursday from a chiropractor who was treating a man who told about being in court with Mr Bush on a drunk-driving charge 24 years ago.
Mr Connolly, acting on this tip, went to the court and copied the charge sheet and other details, which he handed over to a reporter. He defended his action while insisting that he was not part of the Gore campaign. He said he owed it to the American people to make the information public "because it was a criminal conviction" and because driving while intoxicated "is considered by many to be a crime of moral turpitude."
He said he had unsuccessfully tried to fax the conviction information to the Gore headquarters before giving it to the media.
Vice-President Gore has refused to comment on the matter as he campaigned in Missouri before moving on to his native Tennessee, where Mr Bush is enjoying strong support. Mr Chris Lehane, a spokesman for Mr Gore, said: "We had absolutely nothing to do with this."
It has also emerged that Mr Bush withdrew from a jury to hear a drunken-driving charge in Austin, Texas, in 1996 while he was Governor. Prospective jurors in such a case are asked if they have been convicted of such a charge.
When Mr Bush withdrew from the jury panel, he was questioned by reporters if he had ever been arrested for drunk driving. He is said to have replied: "I do not have a perfect record as a youth. When I was young, I did a lot of foolish things. But I will tell you this, I urge people not to drink and drive. It's an important message for all people to hear."
A reporter for the Dallas Morning News, Wayne Slater, interviewed Mr Bush two years later and claims that he replied "No" when asked if he had ever been arrested for drinking. This is denied by Mr Bush and Ms Karen Hughes, the Bush campaign communications manager.
She told reporters on Thursday night that Mr Bush had been arrested on two other occasions while a student. Once was for trying to steal a Christmas wreath as a prank. The other time was when he was expelled from a football stadium for fighting. But there were no charges in either case. Both of these incidents have been reported already.
The founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Ms Candace Lightner, said in an interview yesterday that the revelation about Mr Bush's conviction did not affect her. She said he had paid the price at the time and had later given up drinking. She could understand, as a parent, why he did not want to tell his daughters.