Posted on 05/29/2006 4:00:15 PM PDT by mathprof
Bush III? Or has the dynasty run its course?
Those are the questions some Republicans are asking themselves as political talk bubbles up yet again about President Bush's brother Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and his interest in the White House. The chief driver of the mini-buzz is the current occupant of the White House, who has said twice this month that his younger brother would make "a great president."
No one, the president included, is suggesting that the younger Bush will run in 2008, and Governor Bush, whose second term is up in January, has adamantly ruled it out.
But Republican Party leaders continue to talk seriously about a continuation of the dynasty, a Bush III administration, with Jeb as a candidate in 2012 or 2016, when the memory of the current president's dismal poll ratings will be less of a factor. That, at least, is what happened the last time around: President George Bush's unpopularity at the end of his term in 1992 did not hurt his eldest son when he ran for president eight years later.
[snip]
People close to the Bushes say there are two major factors, political and personal, driving the governor's thinking.
First, Republicans say that running on the heels of what has shaped up to be a dismal second term for his brother would be difficult, if not impossible. Even if President Bush's approval ratings were better, Republicans say that Jeb Bush, for all his political popularity in Florida, would still have to define himself in the shadow of his brother's White House.
"The first question would be, 'What would you do differently than your brother?' " said Tom Rath, a New Hampshire Republican who is close to the Bush family. "And that's a pretty tough race to run."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
No.
Yuck.
I think not..
Just to get anyone's attention, Jeb would have to announce
his candidacy from atop a new oil platform off the FL coast,
with pump prices already down to $1.75. But there aren't any
such platforms, and none seem likely while he is gov.
The rest of the GOP field would have to look pretty bleak. If I wanted a royal family, I'd choose another country.
The Cal Ripken, Jr. of not scoring, eh?
Once upon a time, I would have liked to see Jeb Bush run for President, but with his stands on the illegal alien issue, I no longer wish that.
Jeb Bush would have been a better president than George W. Bush. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
GWB did very well his first term, but his second term has been a series of disasters. His base has been kicked in the face repeatedly, and while he has accomplished many good things during his time in office, he has seemingly been determined to screw up ever since he was reelected, with a strong mandate that he never used.
People forget why they didn't like the first President Bush because there was nothing particularly wrong with him. The media successfully drives down the approval ratings of Republican Presidents, but it is only artificial. After four years of President AlGore reinventing himself every five minutes, people will say, gee those Bushes sure are better than these Damnocrats.
Base, smashe.
He'll have a better chance in 2016.
I have forgotten nothing. Bush was good at the war in Iraq but a lousy politician and at heart a Rockefeller Republican. His son, who can thank Karl Rove for making him into presidential candidate, has been a tiger in the War on Terror but has a tin ear for politics. Like the Adams family, the Bush family deserves no successor. Let us hope for the sake of the Conservative movement that the Bush dynasty ends forever in 2008.
The only way that Jeb is ever going to be President is if the Dems take control of the White House and screw things up royally--so much so that the American look back at George W's Presidency with nostalgia. I guess the NYT has little faith in the Dems, if they are running this article.
It already does look bleak. The only one I can think I would vote for is Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama.
Actually, JEB is uniquely different from his brother and his father and in his own right would make a good executive. He's a great orator, clear decision-maker, and strong leader. However, he has baggage in his wife and children that the best PR would have problems selling.
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You took the, uh, words right out of my mouth. |
I don't think so. I think the country, even those who like the Bush family, have a little Bush Fatigue and it will carry over into 2012.
No!!!!!
Viva la Bush Family!
Doubt he would have been any different on the border.
I think more than the no new taxes statement it was statements showing him to be out of touch with the general public that did the most damage.
His wife, his daughter, his son, his daddy, his brother. Hey, show me a family without problems. There have been great men with lousy sons and great men with lousy fathers. There have been great men with horrible wives and daughters. If we are going to start electing people to office based on their relatives I daresay there will be no one qualified to run.
Anyone remember how the Democrats called Jeb "the smart Bush" during the first election?
Now that would make a great bumper sticker.
Call it amnesty?
Will there be an America left or will it be sold?
Jeez,Jeb's immediate family sounds almost as trashy as Jimmy Carter's was.
After READ MY LIPS and VIVA LA MEXICO nobody in their right mind would trust anyone with the Bush name again. If GW was up for reelection today I wouldn't vote for him.
One problematic relative is good--proves you're like the rest of America. Two or three in your immediate family makes you look too dysfunctional.
Not Neil?
Not Neil?
Wasn't Neil involved in a scandal a couple years ago?
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