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Breitbart: The Bush Brand Is Toxic Now
George P. Bush is having trouble gaining traction in his race for Texas Attorney General (his stepping stone to the governorship and then the White House). He has tried really hard to shake off the family legacy of “compassionate (big government) conservatism” and “illegal immigration is an act of love,” He has tried desperately to brand himself as a MAGA Republican. But the voters aren’t buying it.
His ubiquitous name recognition is emerging as a liability in the Republican party. George P. Bush, who currently serves as the state’s land commissioner, is trailing Paxton in polls. Some of the top reasons Republican voters are reluctant about him are his ties to his family’s center-right political leanings and his own past policy positions.
Bush said those attacks are led by Paxton and don’t reflect the support he has seen on the campaign trail. The sitting attorney general’s ads against Bush focus on labeling him a RINO — Republican in name only — and linking him to his famous family.
I know it’s a bummer for GPW that he has to pay for the sins of his family. His uncle and his granddad stabbed conservatives in the back too often to be easily forgiven. Maybe his conversion to “Trumpism” is genuine, but the Bush name is synonymous with campaigning as a conservative and then governing as a big government, globalist moderates who cut bad deals with Democrats.
America really shouldn’t have political dynasties anyway.
Published in General
W had the backbone to not back down from the Iraq war in the face of plummeting public opinion. I know a lot of folks don’t think we should have gone into Iraq at all (I had mixed feelings about it myself), but having gone in, it was absolutely necessary that we not be seen to be chased out with our tail between our legs when things bogged down. He passed that test.
Other than that, he was never much of a conservative. I wasn’t very disappointed with him because I didn’t have high expectations — he was the statist that I thought he was. That said, I didn’t hate him, and Gore or Kerry would have been much worse.
But him holding his tongue out of “decorum” for eight years of Obama then lashing out at Trump ruined the little good opinion I had of him. He jealously defends his class but can’t be bothered to defend conservatives that aren’t of his class. We embarrass him. He can kiss my grits.
P.S., remember when he had that big signing ceremony in the rose garden with Ted Kennedy for one of W’s statist policies (NCLB I think)? Then Kennedy stabbed him in the back a year or two later, and it supposedly hurt W’s feelings. If so, he’s an idiot. If I could see that coming a mile away, sitting in my living room in Texas, why couldn’t W, with all his connections and advisers?
I don’t hate them – it’s mutual indifference with 41 and general contempt for 43.
I understand what you’re saying, sins of the extended family and all that.
But scions and the like usually suck. So for me, the repeated name is a strike against unless they can convince me of…something. Some quality that can eclipse the name.
Unfair! They are fully qualified to be professional shoppers.
Are they really? Is there evidence that they know what things cost?
Those are details. The important thing is that they can purchase stuff with other people’s money.
But only government has unlimited money.
Yes, all of the above. The damage is greater than the benefit. Allowing political dynasties all the way to the top provides the incentives for a lot of the supporting infrastructure to be formed.
Is there some particular Reagan you had in mind?
My working limit is a direct family relation, anything that is a “single hop”, whether by marriage, adoption, or good old fashioned genetics. This includes brothers; it would not include a cousin.
Please clap.
Another Rebuttal to the idea that there are no dynasties in American politics. This is the rather small group of families that run California.
Because Ron Jr. and Patti Davis were all left-wing whackjobs.
Michael seems okay, but he was adopted.
Maureen ran for the House and Senate in California and lost.
But weren’t all of these people elected? I guess the difference I see is between a foreign, royal, ancient-China-style dynasty which you are a member of at birth and by which you inherit property and power through appointments you get because you’ve got the correct last name, versus American political families whose members run for office.
As long as I have the freedom to vote against candidates, I don’t see a dynasty per se.
But I do understand what you are saying, that there are political families who have advantages when it comes to raising money that others don’t have. Plus name recognition.
And ballot box stuffing.
Yep. Running the Machine is a skill passed down from despot to scion since time immemorial.
What bothers me in the political family problem is nepotism. That’s where the family connections really show up, I think. Many of our nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and state and federal agencies are staffed by family-name-connected people.
If I could, I’d get rid of most of the president’s cabinet–all those agencies hide a lot of corruption and unmitigated power over individuals.
Not just fundraising and name recognition. Political parties are insider networking clubs. Getting advanced in the party requires connections and favors. Multi-generational political families have those connections; outsiders don’t. Unless, like Kamala Harris, they find, um, another way to ingratiate themselves with powerful politicians.
Honestly, without their family connections, would Jeb, W, or George P have made it anywhere in politics?
That is some semantics jujitsu there. These people are dynasties by all common meaning.
Or GHW Bush. He was the son of a prominent senator, Prescott Bush.
At the time he made his SCOTUS nominations (Alito and Roberts, not Miers), conservatives said these nominations were his legacy. They meant this as a compliment, of course. If that view is still held, it’s a mixed bag. Roberts has been an incredible disappointment while Alito has been, I think, all that we hoped he would be.
Yes, I give him heaps of blame for Roberts. I recall that at the time we were all excited about Roberts. He has turned out to be a terrible disappointment.
No particular Reagan in mind. But I wouldn’t dismiss a Reagan merely based upon family ties to Ronald Reagan. Especially this far removed from his presidency. It’s not like a Reagan running for office today would exactly coast along riding Ron’s coattails.
I blame Roberts for Roberts, more than I blame Bush for Roberts.
The point was more rhetorical than specific to President Reagan’s kids.
I don’t think I would even vote for a Reagan, should there be one running. I am sick of families in politics. Alaska, especially, has a big problem.
Well, yes, Murkowski appointing Murkowski to the U.S. Senate was classic nepotism.
But that doesn’t seem as bad as the Dingell problem in Michigan.
Wow, I don’t remember seeing that episode. Pretty corny. I guess they can’t all be good.
Well, it was only 1961.
And I’d say it was actually far from the worst TZ episode. Or maybe it was a Night Gallery episode, but I remember one that supposedly had found an Earth-like environment within the asteroid belt, which is impossible, that supposedly had evolved humanoid life just like Earth which is impossible, but they were “ugly” and an “ugly” kid from Earth traded places with a to-them “ugly” kid who looked “normal” to us, using NASA rockets etc, lots of stock NASA footage, and “flying police” from Fahrenheit 451 or something… it was truly awful.
Apparently it was “The Different Ones,” a Night Gallery episode from 1971. Really no excuse for that, I’d say.
You are speaking of de jure dynasties. For myself, I oppose de facto dynasties as well, because the damage done is arguably greater. An elected (snort!) dynasty speaks to the corruption of the people as well as the government — and reinforces itself.
It’s still hard to know what to make of George W.
The day the nation was under attack, he somehow could not get through on the telephone to the Real-Power-Although-Pretending-Not-To-Be Behind-W’s Throne.
Every call George W made to Cheney was disconnected after a pause.
Then someone or other declared that Air Force One was a definite target of the forces that brought down the Towers and Pentagon – so this president did not arrive back in the Capital until late the night of Nine/Eleven.
He did seem to be someone it would be fun to have a beer with. But he knew he was left out of the loop, and he also knew there was little he could do about it.
Unlike other members of his Administration, he did answer his phone at the WH. When some sevine men in Iraq called 1600 Pennsylvania to complain their drinking water was too foul to use as drinking water or even for showering, he quickly managed to handle their problem.
He just could not manage to get his input positioned into US policy. After one meeting regarding the economy, he left the room muttering, “This time around I wanted that middle class tax cut.”