Laura Bush raises her profile in 2d term

WASHINGTON -- Laura Bush certainly is not the ''desperate housewife" she portrayed before a massive audience in the capital over the weekend, and she certainly is not serious about the public barbs aimed at her husband and the entire Bush family.

But she is playing a more visible role in the second term of President Bush. She is embracing an increasingly comfortable public presence, as demonstrated by a break-out comedic performance Saturday night at the celebrity-studded annual dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association.

''George always says he's delighted to come to these press dinners. Baloney. He's usually in bed by now," Laura Bush said in the opening of her surprising appearance. ''I'm not kidding.

''I said to him the other day, 'George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you're going to have to stay up later,' " she said, stirring laughter throughout a hotel ballroom crowded with thousands of journalists, high-level government and military officials, and celebrities -- including Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and actors Richard Gere, Jane Fonda, and Mary Tyler Moore.

''I am married to the president of the United States, and here's our typical evening," Laura Bush said. ''Nine o'clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I'm watching 'Desperate Housewives' -- with Lynne Cheney. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife. I mean, if those women on that show think they're desperate, they oughta be with George."

If this former teacher and librarian from Texas had a quieter supporting role during much of the president's first term, all of that changed during the 2004 reelection campaign. Laura Bush waged an aggressive campaign for her husband's second term. And since then, she has continued to campaign for children's programs dear to her, including reading and antigang initiatives.

But there is nothing quite like poking good fun at the president, who is known for the occasional mangling of the English language and who goes out of his way to let people know that he actually does read books and daily newspapers.

''George and I are complete opposites," she said. ''I'm quiet. He's talkative. I'm introverted. He's extroverted. I can pronounce 'nuclear.'

''The amazing thing, however, is that George and I were just meant to be. I was the librarian who spent 12 hours a day in the library, yet somehow I met George."

Laura Bush's lines were penned by Landon Parvin, who has written for President Reagan and the former President George H. W. Bush. This president encouraged his wife to take the stage.

Little was off-limits -- not the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, not the Bush family compound at Kennebunkport, Maine, and not the president's mother, Barbara. ''All the Bushes love Kennebunkport, which is like Crawford, but without the nightlife," Laura Bush said. ''People ask me what it's like to be up there with the whole Bush clan. Lemme put it this way: First prize -- three-day vacation with the Bush family. Second prize -- 10 days."