Jeb Bush: “I used to be a conservative” (So what is he now?)

Hotair ^ | 02/24/2012 | Tina Korbe

[SeekAndFind]

Jeb Bush isn't sure where he fits in the panoply of Republican Party leaders anymore. During a Q&A session after a speech in Dallas yesterday, the former Florida governor confessed that he doesn’t know what to make of the direction the current GOP candidates have taken Republican rhetoric:

"I used to be a conservative and I watch these debates and I'm wondering, I don't think I've changed, but it's a little troubling sometimes when people are appealing to people's fears and emotion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective and that's kind of where we are" said the former Florida Governor. “I think it changes when we get to the general election. I hope.” …

Maybe Jeb is just perplexed he isn’t Republicans’ first choice for a White Knight to ride in and save the Republican Party at a brokered convention. Or maybe he genuinely thinks negativity has subsumed the positive message Republicans have to offer:

The younger brother of former president George W. Bush also weighed in on the debate Republicans and Democrats are having over the national economy.

“If you want to narrow the income gap, there are two ways to do it. One, you punish people that are successful and try to narrow it that way and that’s the president’s approach. Or you equip people that aspire for a better life to give them the tools and then you don’t try to manage that, you allow them to pursue those dreams as they see fit. That to me is the better approach and it requires a celebration of success.”

Bush both misses and has a point.

First, the point he misses: The current GOP candidates — for all of the flaws they have in their pasts — consistently deliver conservative rhetoric. Their talk is tough on everything from entitlement reform to tax reform to immigration reform. They’re all anchored in the idea that rights are inalienable, unable to be granted nor revoked by government. They primarily respect the moral order, the idea that decisions have consequences and that individuals should have to take responsibility for the decisions they make. In many instances, their tone has been a triumph of conservatism, a signal that the candidates recognize that GOP voters want a conservative nominee. Sometimes, I think we don’t give the candidates enough credit for this truth.

Next, the point he makes: The candidates have frequently proved themselves to be poor politicians, succumbing to the temptations pitched to them by debate moderators and MSM interviewers. Journalists and observers alike are fascinated and interested in the horserace; they want to hear the candidates attack each other and pick apart each other’s past records. The candidates could certainly be better at not taking the bait and at pivoting from pointed-but-irrelevant questions to the broad, positive themes of conservatism.

[octex]

Jeb Bush has never been anything more than a conservative moderate ...or should that be a moderate conservative?

He’s been for amnesty for illegals, against drilling anywhere near Florida, etc.

I yell at the talking heads on TV everytime they mention Jeb, Christi or Daniels as possible nominees. They are all leaning to the left on too many issues.

[wardaddy]

it gets right down to it...the Bushes are jackasses

better jackasses then the democrats

but jackasses just the same...their women too...actually the women are simply libs married to jackasses who pretend to be sorta conservative

BushII gave us good SCOTUS nominees and was a fighter against the raggers..I will always appreciate that

but he was no perfection beyond that even though worshipped here by MANY

now yet another one...even worse this time..Mitty

what a mess...buncha silly white people without the balls to handle telling unpleasant truths

hey Jeb...I got half latino kids too hoss!

doesn’t stop me from speaking the obvious facts about how it is...and what we are...and where and what we come from

[dixiechick2000]

Awesome rant...and just exactly right. ;o)

[Chgogal]

For heaven sakes!!!!

This idiot of a politician is making me agree with Rev. Jackson, “Stay out of the Bushes!”

[BufordP]

You want a fight!

No I don't. Tea Partiers are "been asleep for decades Rip Van Winkles" that have finally pulled themselves away from their sports and entertainment long enough to see what their political inaction has wrought and realize they are small government conservatives. When Jeb says he's not a conservative he is saying he's not a Tea Partier. When he besmirches conservatives he besmirches you.

[3D-JOY]

If I understand your meaning...I can not agree less.

I am a Tea Partier and I dare anyone to say I have been asleep for years. I was active on FR before the current system. My activity speaks for itself. Sports and entertainment did not totally take up my life, but now I do not even have TV. It is rubbish I do not want polluting my home.

When Jeb says he is not a Conservative he means the party has left him, just as it left me. I do not want him to run...ever again.

I will besmirch every Conservative I can who thinks just saying “I am a Conservative Republican” makes them above the fight. People who talk, but not walk, the effort to inform the sleeping public are my real enemies. I am sorry they can not see the evil things that are being done to this greatest of all countries.

Well, we will never agree, but lets keep fighting on the same team!

[JediJones]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57341671-503544/mitt-romney-newt-gingrich-is-the-frontrunner/

Romney told Politico...

He suggested that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush may have made a better Republican nominee, saying, “If I thought someone else could do a better job — I mean, I’ve said before, if Jeb Bush were running and in this race, I probably wouldn’t have gotten in.”

[BufordP]

For Pete’s sake! I’m not putting YOU in the same category as the Rip Van Winkles.