Report: Jeb Bush likely to endorse Romney before Florida primary

Hot Air ^ | January 12, 2012 | Allahpundit

[2ndDivisionVet]

Surprising. The odds of this happening, given the Bush family’s antipathy to Gingrich and Perry, couldn’t have been much higher than 98 or 99 percent.

Second look at political dynasties backing establishment candidates?

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush plans to endorse former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney before the Jan. 31 Florida primary, a Florida GOP source close to Bush told BuzzFeed Thursday.

The endorsement from Bush, who despite prodding from members of his famous family and prominent Republicans decided to sit out the 2012 contest, is the latest sign that the Republican establishment is coalescing around Romney after months publicly griping about finding another candidate…

The Florida Herald-Tribune reported yesterday that First Lady Laura Bush told a Sunshine State audience this week that her husband “and I wish he would [run for president.] We wanted him to this time.”

If there’s any significance to this scoop, that’s it — that the odds of Jeb jumping in late to shake up the race have now declined from a fraction of one percent to absolute zero. I want more details on the timing, though. It makes no sense for Bush to wait until after South Carolina to endorse Romney since Romney’s almost certainly going to win Florida regardless. He leads there in all the recent polls, one of which has him up by more than 20 points, and he’s probably the only candidate in the field who can afford the huge expense of a sustained ad campaign there. Unless Sheldon Adelson’s ready to pour millions more into Newt’s Super PAC, Mitt might be able to lose South Carolina to Newt and still bounce back to win Florida. If he’s got Jeb’s endorsement, he should roll it out a day or two before SC votes in hopes of pulling some moderates away from Huntsman and squeaking past Newt to wrap up the nomination. Having Bush stump for him there would also make for a sweet complement to the support he’s getting from DeMint’s more conservative allies, including praise — if not a formal endorsement — from DeMint himself.

Here’s Jeb with Piers Morgan back in October talking about how “consistent” Romney is, which must be the first term any human has said that ever. Beneath that,

(VIDEO AT LINK)

[cva66snipe]

We know the establishment wouldn't put Neil B. up there as a nominee. So Jeb seems like a logical choice. And since you point out his issues, what other sock puppet would they prop up as the "nominee" in 2016?

That's just it. Conservatives have been tossed out of the GOP. The last Conservative in any sense was Reagan faults and all. Reagan was a fluke caused by several things. He was grossly underestimated by Establishment GOP in his communication skills, charasmia, and grassroots support. Also in the background there was a huge grassroots effort headed up by Paul Weyrich and Howard Phillips that also brought conservatism to new heights unseen since the early 1960's.

I feel conservative Republicans who had any interest in running have come to the point in dealing with the GOP of "what's the use"? For eight solid years GW Bush and his elitist associates working for him pushed and only campaigned for Moderates too be elected in the houses. That effort has inflicted major long term damage to both congress and the GOP as far as conservatism goes. Few will see it this way but it was a deliberate effort to fill the ranks with Moderates in congress and shut out Conservatives completely. The left wing of the GOP which has ran the party from 1989-present has no use for conservatives and I think maybe even Palin finally realized she was being used as a Token Conservative.

From the severe leftward direction the GOP has taken in the past 20 years it would not surprise me in the least too see Bloomberg, Snowe, Collins, Graham,or one of same, as the 2016 GOP nominee if a Bush is not awarded it first.

The GOP is damaged beyond repair and Conservatives need to begin the rebuilding process to establish a new second party too take it's place.

[sand88]

The GOP is damaged beyond repair and Conservatives need to begin the rebuilding process to establish a new second party too take it's place.

Your entire post is excellent. Bush NEVER campaigned for a conservative. The GOP is dominated by elitist statist pigs. They laugh at Conservatives.

I agree that Conservatives should move to a new party. The GOP must eventually be politically destroyed. Bush, Rove, the RNC, et al could then move to the party that aligns with their principles -- the RAT party.