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It is a truism of political dynasties that there is a chosen heir - the one who should or would or could have been next. It is certainly apt of the Bush family. Jeb Bush is the son who was groomed for the presidency. He was the one most Republicans expected to succeed his father into the Oval Office. And today, looking at their, let's be frank, lacklustre field, many Republicans still wish he would do just that. "It's very flattering to be asked that regularly," Jeb tells me in his office at the Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel. "I don't...

Former first lady Barbara Bush said on Greta Van Susteren's "On the Record" this past week: "We've got a real problem in public schools. ... This is a national crisis. It's as bad as anything in our country." When Van Susteren was pointing out from Bush's own op-ed piece that "Texas (is) 36th in the nation in high-school graduates (and) 3.8 million Texans don't have a high-school diploma," Bush said, "No more, you're killing us." Bush was commendably protecting Texas pride as she told Van Susteren not to cite any further degrading statistics about the state of Lone Star education,...

Bush Child, in a Break, Endorses Gay Marriage By MICHAEL BARBARO The Bush dynasty is no stranger to generational conflict: father and son differed over deposing Saddam Hussein, raising taxes and the role of the United Nations. Barbara Bush in her video statement. Now it is father and daughter who find themselves at odds over a weighty issue. Barbara Bush, one of the twin daughters of George W. Bush, will endorse same-sex marriage on Tuesday, publicly breaking ranks with a father who, as president, pushed for a constitutional amendment banning such unions. Ms. Bush, 29, has taped a video calling...

(CNN) – Former President George W. Bush's daughter Barbara is appearing in a new web video in support of gay marriage. The 20-second spot released Monday is sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization that works to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. "I'm Barbara Bush and I'm a New Yorker for marriage equality," Bush says. "New York is about fairness and equality and everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love. Join us."

Prescott S. Bush Jr., the brother of one president and uncle of another, and a retired insurance executive who tried but never made it far in the family business — politics — died Wednesday after a long illness. He was 87. Mr. Bush’s death was confirmed by Tracey Bergonzi, a spokeswoman at Keohane Funeral Home in Hingham, Mass., a town where Mr. Bush had lived for several years. The cause of death was unclear. Besides being the uncle of one president, George W. Bush, and elder brother of another, George Bush, he was the son of a wealthy senator, Prescott...

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Must have been all that love from the left…

Three generations of Bushes descended on a Brickell area church Saturday for a wedding and Memorial Day weekend family reunion of the Republican Party's most enduring dynasty. The two former presidents -- George Herbert Walker Bush and George W. Bush -- were on hand, along with the former first ladies to watch as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's youngest son, John Ellis Bush Jr., 26, known as ``Jebby,'' married Coral Gables resident Sandra Algudady.

Barbara Bush will speak out about the extreme disparity in health care between the world's rich and poor at a National Press Club luncheon on Wednesday, May 26 and describe what the non-profit she heads is doing to improve public health in underserved communities here and abroad. Bush, 28, is the president of the Global Health Corps (www.ghcorps.org) , a group she helped found two years ago with input from her sister Jenna. The organization places recent college graduates in yearlong fellowships aimed at improving health care access. The first 22 fellows were assigned to 12 project sites in East...

Former first lady Laura Bush has broken with her husband on the premier social issues of his administration and said she backs gay marriage and abortion. After more than eight years of silence on the controversial issues, Mrs. Bush said in an interview with CNN's Larry KingTuesday, that gay marriage and abortion were points of contention with her husband, former President George W. Bush. Mrs. Bush in recent weeks has been promoting her memoir "Spoken from the Heart," in which she writes about her life both before and after becoming first lady. In response to a question about gay marriage,...

Talk privately to just about any leading Republican about the 2012 presidential race, and you’ll often hear a sentence that starts with: “If his last name were ...” They’re talking about the former two-term governor of one of America’s largest states who is a reformer, a policy wonk and a savvy pol who left office on good terms — and whose last name happens to be Bush. Were he not the brother of a recently departed and unpopular president, there is little doubt that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would be an obvious, and formidable, White House prospect for the...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is speaking out against the new hard-line immigration law in Arizona, becoming the first prominent national Republican to do so. "I think it creates unintended consequences," he said in a telephone interview with POLITICO Tuesday. "It's difficult for me to imagine how you're going to enforce this law. It places a significant burden on local law enforcement and you have civil liberties issues that are significant as well."

HOUSTON – Former first lady Barbara Bush was hospitalized Saturday in Houston to undergo routine tests but doctors don't suspect anything serious, a family spokeswoman said. Bush, 84, was being treated at Methodist Hospital and should be released in a day or two, spokeswoman Jean Becker said late Saturday. "She hasn't been feeling well for about a week, and the doctors thought she should come in and undergo a battery of tests," Becker said. "It's not serious. She just hasn't been feeling herself and they're just trying to figure out why." Becker declined to provide details, but said former President...

Breaking on Fox.....

Jeb Bush is finally endorsing in the big GOP primary, but it's not the primary we've been waiting for. Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) reelection campaign announced Wednesday that Bush will back him over former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.). We'll continue to wait and see whether Bush feels the need to weigh into the GOP primary in his home state. At this point, though, he'd really just be piling on by endorsing Marco Rubio over Charlie Crist. Here's Bush's statement: "As we continue to face tough challenges both at home and abroad, America needs leaders like Senator John McCain in the...

NAPLES — The Bush brothers packed the house at the Naples Grande Beach Resort. Former President George W. Bush and his brother Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, spoke Tuesday night as part of the Naples Town Hall Distinguished Speakers Series. They talked issues _ everything from health care and the Iraq war to budget deficits and Social Security reform. George W. Bush, the 43rd U.S. president, has stayed out of the spotlight, limiting his face-time in public since leaving the White House about a year ago. He and his brother – the state’s 43rd governor – addressed a...

The capper came Thursday when, at the top of the 7 o'clock hour, right after Vice President Joe Biden, Bush made a rare network television appearance on NBC's Today Show. The intensely private Bush's interview with the overly familiar Matt Lauer rattled Florida political circles. Was this the beginning of a Jeb juggernaut that would culminate in a 2012 presidential bid? http://www.mcclatchydc.com/310/story/83386.html

They're kicking up their heels at the Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation for Family Literacy offices with announcement that former vice presidential candidate, Fox News commentator and author Sarah Palin will be among the published writers of note to make presentations at the Celebration of Reading. Politics notwithstanding, those who've seen Palin in person report that she is a charismatic figure not to be missed. And if you loved Palin going rogue on the campaign trail, we bet you'll love her even more as she comments on her life and reads from her book, Going Rogue. Mark your calendars for the...

Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have joined President Obama to spearhead American relief to victims of Haiti’s devasting earthquake. During a Saturday interview for "Face the Nation" at the White House, the two politically opposite former President’s admitted how close a relationship they actually have. Moderator Bob Schieffer asked both men if they consider one another good friends. “Yeah I do,” Bush replied. “Me too,” Clinton echoed. “My mother…calls him my fourth brother,” Bush admitted. “The black sheep of the family,” Clinton joked. President Bush admitted that on occasion he would call his predecessor while in the White...

As Florida Republicans struggle to define their future, a towering figure from the past has returned to call the shots. Former Gov. Jeb Bush retreated from the public spotlight when he left office in 2006, becoming almost reclusive. But in the last six months, Bush, revered by the party's conservative base, has reasserted his influence and is helping remake the state's political landscape more to his liking. In the process, Bush has dimmed the star of Gov. Charlie Crist.