Jeb?

 

In a column in the Washington Post headlined “Don’t Forget About Jeb,” Jennifer Rubin:

It is still not clear whether Jeb has the yen to run. But sometimes events come together in just the right sequence. Over the last year Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), for whom Jeb is a mentor, has hit the skids. This raises the real possibility that Rubio might not run in 2016 or if he does, could fade fast. Jeb would therefore not feel compelled to defer to his junior senator. Meanwhile, the government shutdown undermined the credentials of far-right senators, immigration reform is back on the radar and the party is searching for an affirmative agenda. Jeb may not have moved closer to the party, but the party is moving closer to him. And, most importantly, it may need a seasoned pro to take on the Clintons.

What about the Bush name? Well, Bush 43 has favorability ratings higher than the president. If Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic nominee, the elite media can hardly whine about “dynasty” politics. “Bush” may not be the hardship it once was for Jeb. There is also something to be said for someone with experience who has been elected twice in a swing state, but who is still a fresh face for many voters.

Jen may be on to something here, no?

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  1. Profile Photo Member
    @genferei
    Kozak: When did we devolve into the late Roman Republic? When only select Patrician families, Scipioni, Julii , Junii, Cornelei, could aspire to the Consulship. … .The next step is Caesar if we don’t stop the madness.

    It’s too late. The Rubicon has been crossed. The rules do not count any more. The civil war is coming.

    • #1
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    @BrentB67

    George Bush had a tremendous record as Texas Governor, how did that work out for US?

    I am not interested in having Florida foisted on us. I think we will be better off with someone that doesn’t believe in solutions from Washington.

    • #2
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    @genferei

    A President J Bush would be very similar to a President Walker / Rubio / Jindal / Ryan / Cruz and even Paul. There would be a series of bruising symbolic battles and a triumphant President X would have slightly trimmed the increase in the acceleration of the blow-out of the death-spiral of government growth.

    Any of these folks would be preferable to President Clinton / Warren / Biden, whose administrations would institutionalize the government harassment of liberty-loving groups and individuals to a degree only dreamed of by 20th century dictators.

    We know how the game works: when the Dems have one part of one branch of government, their agenda rules; when the GOP controls every branch, they are allowed to compromise.

    Stop playing the game. This won’t be done through the ballot box. That is a result, not a means. The best that can be hoped for is to preserve the Republic long enough to thoroughly remake it from the grass-roots upwards.

    • #3
  4. Profile Photo Member
    @DrewInWisconsin

    My understanding is that Rubio can’t run for Senate and President at the same time. He’ll have to choose one or the other for 2016.

    And can someone explain what Rubin means with:

    Jeb may not have moved closer to the party, but the party is moving closer to him.

    I don’t quite know how to process that.

    • #4
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    @MarionEvans

    We can save the country a lot of money and time by just automatically alternating eight years of a Clinton and eight years of a Bush for the next 50 years.

    • #5
  6. Profile Photo Member
    @WICon

    I thought we didn’t have to be exposed to Jen Rubin on Ricochet any more.

    I just re-uped for the year. Bait & switch! What gives?

    • #6
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    @DannyAlexander

    Your question:  Jeb?

    My response:  Insane?

    Jen Rubin is by and large correct on matters of US policy towards Israel.

    However, she is also by and large incorrect on matters of US policy towards itself.

    • #7
  8. Profile Photo Member
    @EdG
    Peter Robinson

    …..

    Jen may be on to something here, no?

    No.

    • #8
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    @Spin

    You know how Ricochet is going to respond to Jeb.  And I think we also know how America will respond to another Bush, whatever you think of them.  

    • #9
  10. Profile Photo Member
    @BereketKelile

    I’ve always been one to dismiss Jeb as a non-starter but when I saw your interview with him, Peter, I was surprisingly impressed with the way he addressed the issues. If he can stay positive and not get sucked into the establishment/tea party then I think he has a good shot. He does a good job of showing that he cares and that will help him connect with voters. Of course, there’s the downside and I don’t need to belabor that.

    • #10
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    @Tuck

    “You know how Ricochet is going to respond to Jeb.  And I think we also know how America will respond to another Bush, whatever you think of them.”

    Boy, that does sum it up…

    • #11
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    @Pilli

    Peter, 

    You’re just messin’ with us now.

    • #12
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    @CrowsNest

    Jeb? No.

    That said, Gov. Bush has a finer policy mind than his brother, and his name carries weight in some wings of the party. If he still desires to do some kind of public service, the best way for him, I think, would be to head some kind of President’s advisory council–perhaps one on civic education, or on regionalism/federalism initiatives to devolve power from Washington bureaucracies (in an orderly way) to governors.

    • #13
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    @DocJay
    Tuck

    “You know how Ricochet is going to respond to Jeb.  And I think we also know how America will respond to another Bush, whatever you think of them.”

    Boy, that does sum it up… · 7 minutes ago

    Barf!

    I am sure the big bankers, Wall St criminals, corrupt politicians and lobbyists are drooling at the prospect.

    My wood chipper is dry and yearns for public work.  Bring him on!

    • #14
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    @DannyAlexander

    #6 Bereket

    What you write also captures Rick Perry’s attributes as well.  Including even your last sentence (i.e., Perry as another white Texas governor — I’m obviously not the first to throw that out there).  And I say this as someone who hopes Perry will give 2016 a shot.

    Whatever the case, frankly a lot of energy needs expending between now and 2016 on undercutting Hillary and even on undercutting Elizabeth Warren (just in case).  Call it healthy paranoiac pre-emptive self-defense for conservatives.

    • #15
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    @jarhead

    Jeb was generally a good governor for the state of Florida.  I voted for him twice.  But good governors don’t always make good presidents, and I hope there are better options available than Jeb in 2016 (or Marco, for that matter) if he’s running.

    • #16
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    @ManfredArcane

    Well, would you care to handicap a Perry-Warren confrontation.  She would eat him alive wouldn’t she?  He (Perry), for all his merits, doesn’t seem to come across as that bright, whereas JB and CC do seem to be brighter than your average bulb.

    Danny Alexander: #6 Bereket

    What you write also captures Rick Perry’s attributes as well.  Including even your last sentence (i.e., Perry as another white Texas governor — I’m obviously not the first to throw that out there).  And I say this as someone who hopes Perry will give 2016 a shot.

    Whatever the case, frankly a lot of energy needs expending between now and 2016 on undercutting Hillary and even on undercutting Elizabeth Warren (just in case).  Call it healthy paranoiac pre-emptive self-defense for conservatives. · 4 minutes ago

    • #17
  18. Profile Photo Member
    @ScottR
    Bereket Kelile: I’ve always been one to dismiss Jeb as a non-starter but when I saw your interview with him, Peter, I was surprisingly impressed with the way he addressed the issues. If he can stay positive and not get sucked into the establishment/tea party then I think he has a good shot. He does a good job of showing that he cares and that will help him connect with voters. Of course, there’s the downside and I don’t need to belabor that. · 10 minutes ago

    That’s about where I’m at. A very good reformist governor, particularly strong on education. Would have the ability to get conservative reforms through a mixed congress in a way a tea partier likely couldn’t (if the tea partier could ever be elected in the first place, that is). Is wonkish and articulate in a way his brother wasn’t. Is a good man.

    But his last name is Bush. And that isn’t nothing.

    • #18
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    @Casey

    He’ll lose the Ricochet vote but he’s got a good shot with normal people. But I still think Rubio is the guy with Jindal pushing him hard.

    • #19
  20. Profile Photo Member
    @FrankSoto

    Peter is trying to cause trouble.   I turn once more to the tube of you.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM_XPRvt_gs

    I’ll pass.

    • #20
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    @BrianClendinen

    I would of said yes 7 years ago, however, Jeb has taken to many Republican establishment  positions (the kind of which have turned be against the part as a whole)since then to cause me to despise him. Plus good luck in convincing his wife. She hated being the governs wife, and many credible sounding insider stories I read years ago said she was the biggest reason, not his last name, he has not run for another office.

    • #21
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    @PlatosRetweet

    Aloof, a suspected bleeding heart, and vulnerable due to history and birthright.

    Aloof. Where has he been? If he cared about Republican voters he would be talking to us, e.g. as a Fox News contributor.  It was good enough for Gingrich and Giuliani. Does Jeb think he’s above it all? Giving in-depth interviews to Jay Nordlinger and Peter Robinson is admirable, but it’s not quite the same as being a regular on Hannity, or going mano-a-mano on The Factor

    A suspected bleeding heart on immigration and education. His brother capitulated on one and threw money at the other. Jeb seems no different. Education is a local issue, got it, Jeb? Plus I have never seen Jeb talk like he’s angry at the entitlement class. Hell, even Mitt Romney let us know he was steaming about that.

    Jeb won no friends among my fellow secular, small government Republicans (his natural base on the spectrum) with his involvement in the Schiavo case. The Dems will try to re-litigate Bush v. Gore, making it impossible for Jeb to position himself as a uniter. Finally, low information voters will assume he will invade Iraq. Again.

    • #22
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    @RandyWebster

    Jeb is another one who doesn’t understand what the word “illegal” means.

    • #23
  24. Profile Photo Podcaster
    @EJHill

    How can I put this?

    Jeb.png

    • #24
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    @BrentB67

    Sending 17% of the federal workforce on a paid vacation undermined the credentials of the more conservative Senators?

    If anyone lost credibility it is the old lions that caved in, raised the debt ceiling, and got nothing in the way of compromise in the process. Those are the guys that are closer to Jeb Bush.

    Rick’s post about Acela Republicans is thought provoking.

    • #25
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    @Leigh

    As President, we could still do worse, and might.  Not right on everything but right on some important things, and competent. 

    In spite of everything, there was a certain decency and honor about GWB which was good to have in the White House.  I would probably prefer him to Christie.

    As a candidate… I don’t know.  I hope not, but we could be debating the name “Bush” as bitterly as we were “Romneycare” last cycle.

    • #26
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    @BrentB67

    The comparison with Gov Perry that they both sound much better in 1 on 1 interviews with Peter isn’t what matters. They are both polite articlate governors.

    The comparison is that one believes the federal government has a role in everything and needs a better manager. The other thinks the federal government is the problem and needs to be retuned to its Constitutional limits.

    I will defer to our Rico Family to figure out who is who.

    • #27
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    @RushBabe49

    Darn it, we need Sarah Palin!!  And if not she, then she needs to give whoever becomes the candidate speaking and campaigning lessons.  We do not need another mild-mannered milquetoast.

    • #28
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    @Sisyphus

    Bush 43 has favorability ratings higher than the president.

    Hurricane Katrina had higher favorability ratings than this President. The awful ratings of the last two Presidents, both spendthrifts, does not represent a pattern we should seek to perpetuate. 

    Last CPAC Rubio was Reaganesque in his address, sheer excellence. Since than he has found spectacular ways to alienate his friends and encourage his enemies. And when you cite Jeb as a mentor, and we consider the Bush amnesty fetish, even my dim mind can begin to discern a pattern.

    On balance, the Bush presidencies are not a mistily remembered high point for the GOP rank and file. The advantage Jeb has are all of those contacts and all of that credibility as a brand that has won elections (although not always with a majority of the national vote).

    The brother of the man who “destroyed” capitalism in order to save it doesn’t have my vote against most of the likely primary competition. 

    • #29
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    @DaveCarter

    As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, “…played a central role in restoring America’s standing in the world and strengthening its global leadership.” Says who? Says the National Constitution Center, whose Chairman, Jeb Bush awarded her the Liberty Medal. The award was presented on the eve of the first anniversary of the Benghazi attack, in which Ms. Clinton played a central role in liberating four Americans from their mortal coil. Anyone who could personally hand that award to that woman, with a straight face and without the assistance of a barf bag is, in my opinion, unfit to be Commander in Chief.

    • #30
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