Posted on 07/28/2010 6:15:21 AM PDT by curth
Many Republicans are still searching for that ideal 2012 presidential candidate – someone who can fire up both the fiscal and social conservative wings of the GOP while luring swing voters. And, in recent months, the chatter has often turned to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Bush apparently sought to quiet the murmurs today, telling a Kentucky TV reporter that he isn’t running. Bush has said that since leaving office in January 2007 that he would focus on making money and advocating for education reforms, which were a centerpiece of his tenure as governor. Even as polls show that he remains popular in Florida, the country’s biggest swing state, many close to him and party strategists have assumed that the Bush family name was a non-starter so soon after the presidency of his unpopular older brother, George W. Bush. Jeb Bush waved off efforts by state Republicans to coax him into the U.S. Senate race.
But the 2010 midterms have served as a bit of a political re-coming out for Jeb Bush, who has traveled the country raising money for Republican candidates. Just this week, he headlined a fund-raiser Monday night in Louisville for GOP Senate nominee Rand Paul. He has also spoken out on a range of political issues, from economic policy to immigration.
Bush said today that his denial was hardly news. Asked why there has been so much speculation, Bush told Washington Wire via email: “I haven’t a clue. I have not been running for a while and answer the question the same way every time.”
But given the glaring demographic challenges facing Republicans, who tend to appeal mostly to white voters as the country grows more black and brown, Bush remains a tempting option. He speaks fluent Spanish, is married to a Mexican-American, and Latinos
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
Thank God we don’t have to that RINO running.
Closest thing to “service for his country” RINO Jeb has ever done.
You don’t suppose he reads Free Republic, do you?
He knows it will be at least a decade before voters forget his brother’s disaster.
New blood with new ideas is the key!
Good. The Bush name has been so slandered by the LWM, there is no way another Bush will win anytime soon. Also, while I miss GWB compared to the current WH resident, he wasn’t a classic conservative, and I don’t think Jeb is, either.
He’s smarter than his brother, but the Bush name is dead as far as running for President goes, IMO.
GOOD!!! Please, no more Bush’s! They are all country-club elitist, “compassionate conservatives”.
A Progressive is more like it.......
GW slashed taxes, put 2 conservatives on the bench, and stuck it to these terrorists......in my book, that’s a success.
Disaster?
Actually, Jeb, WE said no.....thanks for listening
Finally Jeb and I are in agreement.
This announcement is the strongest evidence yet seen that they will try to insert Hillary in 2012.
Bears repeating. Even the things Freepers complain about, such as no child left behind, had some good aspects and were an improvement over what was already in force.
The media blasted Bush and the Republicans for eight years, helped McCain get the nomination and then greased the skids for Obama's slide into the WH. The media and voter fraud will control elections for a long time.
George W. Bush’s legacy is a mixed bag. He did some very good things, but he also let the liberals throw every evil claim against him that they could - and never defended himself.
He alienated me when he wouldn’t stand up against amnesty. He also didn’t set up a successor. Cheney was a great pick for his first term, but they needed someone in the second term to carry on. Now we have Obama.
He didn’t have a choice. It will be a long, long, long time before any Bush becomes a nominee for President from the GOP.
“Just this week, he headlined a fund-raiser Monday night in Louisville for GOP Senate nominee Rand Paul.”
They will try to rule from behind the curtains. This aspiring globalist dynasty will not quietly go away, any more than the Clintons will or the Rockefellers did.
Some Freeps don’t believe compassionate conservatism was a disaster.
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