Posted on 01/15/2012 1:38:08 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Newt Gingrich got the endorsement of Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, which is not nearly as valuable.
If you’re a Republican who wants to be President, you’d rather have a Bush bless your candidacy than a Palin.
Which is why Mitt Romney’s strategists and party pros shrug off Newt Gingrich’s endorsement by Sarah Palin’s husband Todd — and look at their shoes when asked whether former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will endorse Romney.
“That would be nice,” a prominent Romney counselor squirmed when asked the question directly.
But Jeb’s endorsement of a fellow retired governor is a question of when, not if, several sources told the Daily News.
“Jeb wishes Mitt were a little more conservative, but he’s for him and is happy to endorse him,” a Republican rainmaker who speaks with both told the Daily News. “It’s only a matter of timing. Jeb knows Romney is the only guy who can beat Obama.”
That shouldn’t surprise savvy election-watchers. It’s been an open secret for months within the Republican establishment that all three members of the Bush dynasty are Romney men — even though most of the clan has kept to the sidelines.
The patriarch, former President George H.W. Bush, is a longtime Romney admirer and blew the family cover in December.
He could have been describing himself when he told the Houston Chronicle, “I just think he's mature and reasonable — not a bomb-thrower.” He praised Romney’s “stability, experience, principles,” adding that “he’s a fine person.”
Romney and the elder Bush are both mainstream conservatives, more comfortable in the political center than their party’s fringes.
It’s not a coincidence that Romney eagerly accepted an invite to the Bush Library at Texas A&M University in 2007, using the occasion to deliver a “religion speech” addressing his Mormon heritage and the role of faith in American politics.
The first President Bush’s preference for Romney is reinforced by a lingering resentment towards former House Speaker Gingrich for reneging on a 1990 commitment to back Bush on an unpopular tax increase plan.
The Bushes, father and both sons, have never forgiven Gingrich for “lying to the President of the United States,” said a former senior White House aide intimately involved in the deliberations.
As for 43, ex-President George W. Bush has opted out of political combat permanently, but confidants say he has made it clear he’s “neutral for Romney,” as one of them put it.
Bush’s de facto Mitt-tilt has been a green light for many of his political allies and fund-raisers to sign on with Romney instead of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whose standing with the Bush clan is frosty at best.
That leaves Jeb, who has been lobbied not only by his father but an even more redoubtable Romney advocate: former First Lady Barbara Bush.
Why even bring it up, then? To bash Sarah Palin? You betcha!
Why is a liberal republican endorsing a liberal republican news? Who else but Romney would you expect the likes of Snowe and Bush to endorse?
George bush is “neutral” for rino romney, Sarah [Todd] is for Gingrich. Sarah ranked #2...
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71414.html
The Bush camp and the Perry camp have not seen eye to eye for many years. Jeb’s endorsement should not come as a surprise to anyone. The entire Bush clan and cronies have been against Perry from the beginning.
If Terry Schiavo is any indication, Bush 2.5’s support is not worth a whole lot.
I’m sure the Bush family is proud. Why not their son is supporting a big government pro madated healthcare,pro abortion, pro gay marriage,pro bailout, liberal pretending to be a Republican..whats not to like?
Stay ooutta da Bushes!
“Stay ooutta da Bushes!”
Yikes, be careful or people will start to hyperventilate: How dare you go after Bushes using the language of the left! You need to attack them on the right-right? LOL. LOL.
That is true but Jeb Bush is very popular in Florida and this endorsement is a biggy to many
Yes I have encountered some. I will never understand how it is this nest of globalists have so many conservatives tugging the forelock for them, when they have delivered so little for so long.
That is plumb silly, perry did not support the Bushes he was a democrate. So they owe him nothing but what he gets.
Who cares what the Bush’s do.
Yesterday’s news.
The old man quit on us and let Clinton win and Bush the younger was a pussy.
And just what is wrong with being on the fringe????
"Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice!" -- Barry Goldwater, "Mr. Conservative"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.