Free Republic

The single biggest threat to Charlie Crist's political future probably isn't his U.S. Senate primary rival, Marco Rubio. It's former Gov. Jeb Bush, who could give Rubio an enormous boost if he chose to. A new Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 poll underscores how much Bush's shadow still looms over Florida almost three years after him leaving office: Forty-six percent said they would rather have Bush leading Florida today, while 41 percent said Crist. More striking, 71 percent of Republicans would pick Bush as governor today, while only 22 percent of Republicans said they would pick Crist over Bush....

The single biggest threat to Charlie Crist's political future probably isn't his U.S. Senate primary rival, Marco Rubio. It's former Gov. Jeb Bush, who could give Rubio an enormous boost if he chose to. A new St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald/Bay News 9 poll underscores how much Bush's shadow still looms over Florida almost three years after he left office: Forty-six percent said they would rather have Bush leading Florida today, while 41 percent said Crist. More striking, 71 percent of Republicans would pick Bush as governor today, while only 22 percent of Republicans said they would pick Crist over Bush....

Jeb Bush told my colleague, ABC’s Teddy Davis, that he likes what President Obama is doing on education: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) lavished praise on President Barack Obama’s education policies on Thursday, telling ABC News that the Democrat who succeeded his brother in the White House has broken from the teachers’ unions and should be applauded by conservatives. “The fact of the matter is, the guy is on the right track, and his (Education) Secretary is as well,” said Bush. “I think he sincerely believes that the system has let down an entire generation of students, particularly students...

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Asked if he had a favorite in the race between Gov. Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio for the U.S. Senate, Bush said he did not. “I admire both of them,” Bush said. But Bush then went on to praise Rubio as having a great life story and as being very articulate. Bush said national party leaders should not be trying to push Crist as aggressively as they have. He said Rubio deserved a fair shot against Crist in a primary. “I think he should be given a chance. I think that the idea that the national party...

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush says he's not running for president in 2012 -- but he's not closing the door completely. The brother of one Republican president and son of another was in Indianapolis Wednesday to tout Florida's education reforms to Indiana's Education Roundtable. Bush says he's not running for anything "right now." "I'm focused on my own private life and trying to help others continue their public service," Bush says. "It's a secondary role, not a primary role, and it'll probably remain that way." Bush's hedged denial of interest stands in contrast to the man at his side as...

Our immigration system has been broken for too long, and the costs of that failure are growing. Getting immigration policy right is fundamental to our national interests -- our economic vitality, our diplomacy and our national security. In the report of the bipartisan Council on Foreign Relations' Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy released last week, we lay out what is at stake for the United States. President Obama has made it clear that reform is one of his top priorities, and that is an encouraging and welcome signal. Immigration has long been America's secret weapon. The United States...

Sometimes good advice comes from the most unlikely of places. In this case, it comes from a Bush. In an interview with Tucker Carlson for Esquire magazine, Gov. Jeb Bush stated the most obvious fact of American electoral politics today: if the GOP is to rise again, it has to stop hating on Hispanics– or at least it has to stop appearing to be hating on Hispanics! He’s talking about you, Tom Tancredo, non-office-holding cable-news ranter. [T]he demographics are going against us. Alex [Castellanos, Republican media consultant] told me today, for example, that there is not a district in California...

(CNN) – Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told an interviewer that he could not say whether or not President Barack Obama is a socialist, and that the president would not have been elected if he had been honest with Americans about his agenda. Bush would not answer the question of whether he agreed with the assessment of some congressional Republicans that the president is a socialist. "I don't know. Define socialism for me," he told Esquire magazine. "It's a word… I believe he's a collectivist. He believes that through collective action, through government, you can solve more problems." He added...

Jeb Bush interview, Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, Florida. The scene: Lunchtime at Jeb Bush's modest office just outside Miami. Just Tucker and Jeb, no one else in sight. Sandwiches. Jeb, only fifty-six, the smarter Bush boy, a good governor, with a great many people expecting that he's not yet finished, but after passing on the chance to run for Mel Martinez's Senate seat earlier this year, there's not an obvious path back to power for him. And his party is a shambles. Obama strides the globe like a colossus, Specter is days away from jumping, and Congressman Eric Cantor's sad...

<p>So, you say you want to win elections? No problem. Just be more like the Democrats.</p> <p>1) Quit talking about abortion. Go along with the flow. A woman's body is hers to control. If a growing baby is in the way, who cares? Kill him!</p>

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Saturday that it's time for the Republican Party to give up its "nostalgia" for the heyday of the Reagan era and look forward, even if it means stealing the winning strategy deployed by Democrats in the 2008 election. "You can't beat something with nothing, and the other side has something. I don't like it, but they have it, and we have to be respectful and mindful of that," Mr. Bush said. The former president's brother, often mentioned as a potential candidate in 2012, said President Obama's message of hope and change during the 2008...

This week GOP leaders in Congress, including Texas' Sen. John Cornyn, launched a rebuilding effort this week, called the National Council for a New America. It's supposed be a grassroots conversation with citizens, including non-Republicans. Texas' senior Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison joined the effort Friday. "We as Republicans need to show the nation that we have better alternatives to Democratic proposals, and that we understand the very real challenges families are facing during these tough economic times," Hutchison said in a statement. Her joining also reaffirms her GOP credentials.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Still popular in Florida, former Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that he's interested in the seat Sen. Mel Martinez is giving up, and the field of possible candidates could quickly narrow to make way for the president's younger brother.

In an online interview with the original Wonkette, Ana Marie Cox, one of McCain’s top aides – Nicolle Wallace – said Sarah Palin reminds her of former Gov. Jeb Bush. Wallace, nee Devenish, worked for Bush in the late 1990s. “Sarah Palin reminds me a lot of Jeb Bush, who was very hands on. He was always in direct contact, email-wise, with reporters. He'd often get back to them before I'd get back to them. She's like that. She's very hands on. Reminds me of my time working for Jeb Bush. She doesn't like a lot of bureaucracy. She gets...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will join presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain in Mexico City Thursday morning on the last day of McCain's three-day visit to Latin America. Gov. Bush was in Mexico City on business and wanted to spend time with the candidate. He will not spend the day with Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., who has several other events today, including a media availability this afternoon. Gov. Bush's name has been floated in Republican veepstakes chatter. On Good Morning America Wednesday, however, McCain pushed back on any talk of his vice presidential pick.

Chill out on climate change, Jeb Bush says. In comments that have stirred the blogosphere, President Bush's little brother said yesterday that those who advocate action to limit climate change are acting out of something like religious zeal. "I don't think our policies should be based on emotion; they should be based on sound science," The Associated Press quoted him as saying. Jeb Bush's comments stand in contrast to those of Charlie Crist, his successor as Florida governor and a often-mentioned GOP running-mate possibility for John McCain. Crist has said Florida should lead on fighting global warming because its low...

A government money market debacle unfolding in Florida is raising questions about former governor and presidential brother Jeb Bush's possible involvement in the mess. Florida froze withdrawals from a state investment fund earlier this week when local governments withdrew billions of dollars out of concern for the fund's financial stability. In the past few days, municipalities have withdrawn roughly $9 billion, nearly a third of the $28 billion fund (which is similar to a money market fund) controlled by the Florida's State Board of Administration (SBA). The run on the fund was triggered by worries that a percentage of the...

By JEB BUSH AND KEN MEHLMAN We support the immigration reform compromise worked out in the Senate for a few simple reasons. It strengthens our national defense. It makes our economy more competitive and flexible. It enhances the rule of law and promotes national unity. And it also does these things in a fair, practical way. The bill provides real border security for the first time, protecting us against the entry of terrorists and stemming the flow of illegal drugs. The temporary worker program will reduce the number of people trying to sneak past the border patrol, allowing law enforcement...

Non-Candidate Shows Ability to Excite the Party At a time when the conservative movement is looking bereft, humbled by midterm-election defeats and hungering for a presidential candidate to rally around, Jeb Bush delivered yesterday in Washington a resounding endorsement of conservative principles, bringing his audience repeatedly to its feet. In his lunchtime remarks to the Conservative Summit, Bush struck every conservative chord, blaming Republicans' defeat in November on the party's abandonment of tenets including limited government and fiscal restraint. "Don't take offense personally if I get mad at Congress," the Republican former Florida governor began. "It's important for us to...

Tuesday would have marked his sixth State of the Union address -- and it might have been his best yet. The nation is in great shape, President Jeb Bush would have reported: record tax cuts propelling the economy to greater heights; a revolutionary school-vouchers program for the first time granting low-income parents real education choices; and, five years after the capture of Osama bin Laden, the final 20,000 U.S. troops returning home from Iraq. The president would break into his fluent Spanish and wave at his Mexican-born wife, Columba, gazing at him from the balcony. The cameras would settle on...

Two and a half years ago I predicted George W Bush's victory in the 2004 elections as well as the subsequent ruin of his political fortune. "Many will be the night during his second term," I wrote in August 2004, "that Bush will wish he were still in Texas, and still drunk." [1] Here is a follow-on forecast: brother Jeb, about to step down as governor of the state of Florida, will be elected president of the United States in 2008, thanks in large measure to the rebound ofthe current president's standing. In fact, I have no idea whether this...

Tallahassee -- On a bright January day marked by bone-numbing 33-degree cold, Jeb Bush took office as Florida's 43rd governor with a pledge to safeguard the interests of the people, not the bureaucrats. In the ensuing eight years, Bush sent shivers through Florida's status quo as he gathered more power than any previous governor and reshaped state government to fit his vision. LocalLinks Nicknamed "King Jeb," he led with an iron will and an ideological bent, transforming what he saw as a tangle of red tape and squanderer of public money into a smaller, business-friendly administration needing fewer tax dollars...

THE STORY OF FLORIDA'S ECONOMY -- FROM JOBS TO COST OF LIVING -- IS BETTER TOLD BY PEOPLE TALLAHASSEE - What happened to Florida's economy on Gov. Jeb Bush's eight-year watch could be told by numbers: • Good ones, like almost 1.4 million more jobs in Florida now than when he took office. And a jobless rate that hit an all-time low of 3 percent during his tenure. It's a touch higher now, but still well below the national rate. • Bad ones, like a strikingly higher cost of living, mostly because of skyrocketing home insurance costs that Bush seemed...

TALLAHASSEE · With the family cat in tow, Gov. Jeb Bush headed Friday for the next chapter of his life, leaving his Capitol office for a holiday trip to South Florida with no plans to return to the office. Gov.-elect Charlie Crist takes over Jan. 2. Bush won't return to Tallahassee until that day, when he will attend Crist's inauguration. "I'm going to take some time off, hopefully do a little fishing, golfing, resting, reading, exercising. And I've got to make a living, so I'll figure it out probably in January." Bush, who has been governor since 1999, has already...

Video here: Bush 41 Breaks Down in Tears Because He Is Proud of Jeb

WINTER HAVEN - With less than three weeks remaining before the general election, Katherine Harris said Friday that she will be elected Florida's next U.S. senator despite a new poll showing she is trailing incumbent Bill Nelson by a wide margin. She also used her platform, a State Farm Insurance candidate forum, to promise the insurance workers in attendance that she would help get the state's rising insurance costs under control. "Everywhere we go we hear about the homeowners insurance crisis," Harris said. But the Longboat Key congresswoman said her opponent has ignored the issue until this campaign season. "Clearly...

Protesters corner Jeb Bush in Pa. 54 minutes ago Protesters greeted Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on his way to a campaign event for a Pennsylvania senator, and he briefly took refuge in a subway station supply closet to avoid the anti-Republican demonstrators. The president's brother encountered protesters on their way to join a demonstration outside the exclusive Duquesne Club, where Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record), a Republican, was holding a fundraiser Friday. Officers used stun guns to subdue two protesters, saying they disobeyed orders to disperse, said Bob Grove, a Port Authority spokesman. "It was a very tense...

WASHINGTON — You're traveling through another dimension; a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. It's a journey into a wondrous land where the surname Bush is glorious, and whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead -- your next stop, Florida. Older readers will recognize the words above from the introduction to the hit TV show, "The Twilight Zone." Believe it or not, there's a swing state in this country where the name Bush is not a negative. In fact, in this magical place, Republicans clamor to be seen next to this Bush....

U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris said Friday that Gov. Jeb Bush will campaign with her in the next two months, but the state GOP said no such commitment exists. Harris, appearing in downtown Orlando, said she will travel with Bush and others as she seeks to defeat incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. Nelson, meanwhile, formally kicked off his campaign Friday in Tampa, saying he wanted to "take our nation in a new direction." Touring with Bush, the state's most powerful Republican, would bring Harris badly needed credibility and steady a campaign that, at times, appeared ready to collapse. But Friday,...

TALLAHASSEE - He's a fixture on political TV ads, Web sites and glossy mailers, but he's not running for office. Jeb Bush is far and away the most heavily-promoted politician on the campaign trail in Florida in 2006 as candidates scramble for a place in the shadow of the popular governor. Bush isn't asking for your vote, because he can't seek re-election. But his consistently high approval ratings make him the gold standard for Republican candidates eager to solidify their conservative credentials. In the Republican primary race for governor, Charlie Crist and Tom Gallagher have used the words "Jeb Bush"...

TALLAHASSEE · If voters didn't know better, they might think Jeb Bush was running for office this year. The face, name and accomplishments of Florida's Republican governor are among the most frequent themes showing up in political advertising in the state this year. Across Florida, Republicans are playing the so-called Jeb card, while Democrats are disparaging his eight-year performance. In the Republican primary, Charlie Crist and Tom Gallagher are eagerly invoking Bush's name and image in TV spots, campaign Web sites, debates and stump speeches. The home pages of Crist and Gallagher's Web sites are blanketed with photos of the...

Breaking on Fox right now. "The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm could grow by Thursday into a hurricane as strong as Katrina, which struck the city a year ago Tuesday." (Story released earlier, can't find current update)

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 sent an enormously important message to politicians and educators across America: Stop making excuses for low student achievement and start holding your schools accountable for results. Florida and New York City are leaders when it comes to accountability in education. We have set high expectations for all students, and in key grades we have eliminated social promotion, the harmful practice of pushing unprepared students ahead. We grade schools based on student performance and growth so that parents and the public, as well as school administrators, know which schools are working well and...

DURHAM, N.H. --Republican incumbents Jeb Bradley and Charles Bass are holding solid leads over their Democratic challengers in races for New Hampshire's 1st and 2nd congressional districts, according to a poll released Tuesday. In the 1st District, 51 percent of residents said they have a favorable opinion of Bradley; 15 percent have an unfavorable opinion, 13 percent are neutral and 22 percent don't know enough about him to say. When likely voters are asked who they plan to vote for in November, Bradley holds comfortable leads over the two best-funded Democratic challengers, Jim Craig and Carol Shea-Porter, the poll said....

WASHINGTON, July 25 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Executive Director of The National Pro-Life Action Center, the nation's only pro-life initiative located on Capitol Hill, has responded to the expected endorsement of Jim King for Florida State Senate by Gov. Jeb Bush. Dr. Paul Chaim Schenck, the Executive Director of the Center, which is a joint project of Catholics United for Life, Priests for Life and Faith and Action (with a combined membership of over 250,000), issued the following statement - "Shame, shame on Jeb Bush for betraying the memory of Terri Schindler Schiavo by endorsing Jim King. As Senate president,...

TAMPA - Attorney General Charlie Crist may be running away with the Republican nomination in the governor's race, a new poll for The Tampa Tribune and WFLA, News Channel 8, shows. Crist leads Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher 55 percent to 24 percent among likely Republican voters surveyed last week by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. The race for the Democratic nomination remains wide open, however,with a majority of the Democrats surveyed undecided on whether to support U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, of Tampa, or state Sen. Rod Smith, of Alachua. Of those who chose a candidate, Davis led 29 percent to...

<p>The Orlando metro area added more than 41,000 new jobs during the 12-month period ending in June, helping the state maintain its position as one of the nation's leaders in jobs production.</p> <p>During that period, the state posted a growth rate of 3.5 percent, more than double the national average of 1.4 percent, according to data released Friday by the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.</p>

July 6, 2006 Dear Concerned Republican, As you may know, the state of New Jersey is in the midst of a budget crisis that has led to a total government shutdown. This crisis in New Jersey underscores the significance of every state's fiscal policies and the potential harm those policies can have on us all when they are mismanaged, regardless of geographic location or status as a "red" or "blue" state. A major contrast exists between Florida's approach to money management and New Jersey's, and this has been made so very clear by the events of the past few days....

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush issued an executive order Tuesday suspending Miami City Commissioner Johnny Winton from office pending the outcome of criminal charges stemming from an altercation Winton had with police at Miami International Airport last month. Police say an intoxicated Winton struck police at MIA after his flight was canceled May 15. He banged his head against a wall at one point, chipped one officer's tooth and kicked another officer in the groin, officials say. Winton has entered not-guilty pleas to two felony counts of battery on a police officer and a misdemeanor count of disorderly intoxication. The felony...

Winding up his second term as Florida's governor, the other Bush says he doesn't want to run for President. Not everyone believes him Fans of Florida Governor Jeb Bush often like to whisper that he, not George W., was the brother who should have been President. Jeb, they insist, is the smart one, and the more genuine conservative. So they felt especially smug last month when President Bush, on the same day his poll numbers plunged to 31%, visited Florida to tout his Medicare prescription plan with the help of Jeb, whose own numbers have hovered in the mid-50s since...

Curse of big brother stalks Jeb Bush By Toby Harnden in Washington (Filed: 11/06/2006) He is a popular governor of a pivotal southern state, who has impressed with his leadership of hurricane relief efforts, is a charismatic speaker and a renowned policy expert - and is steeped in political campaigning. Normally, such attributes and qualifications, along with his small government, libertarian brand of conservatism, would make him a front runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Dynasty: Jeb Bush’s presidential hopes have been put on hold But the governor of Florida, who has a popularity rating of 63 per...

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. - A tip for visitors to Florida this summer: Don't start talking about "dynasty" unless you want to make Jeb Bush cranky. "A day doesn't go by where someone doesn't have a great idea for what my life looks like in 2007 and beyond," the term-limited governor told reporters last week. "I'm not entertaining any discussion about it." Click to learn more... But he may be the only person in the Sunshine State not discussing it. Even though he'll remain in the governor's mansion here for another seven months, speculation already is running high about what he'll do...

IF ONLY HIS LAST NAME WERE SMITH. He'd not only attract national attention as the popular and successful governor of a difficult-to-govern state. He'd be viewed sympathetically as a leader who had dealt with family issues--his wife's aversion to politics, his daughter's bouts with drug addiction--without losing his grip on the governorship. And he'd be the prohibitive frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. But his last name is Bush. So Jeb Bush, nearing the end of his eight years as governor of Florida, has to settle for being the best governor in America. Not proclaimed the best governor...

Florida's Favorite Governor, Jeb Bush Gov. Jeb Bush told the first graduating class of this community's high school Saturday to be giving, be grateful and be humble. 'As you become adults, I hope of each of you continues giving of yourself,' he urged the 65 graduating students during a commencement address held in a courtyard outside The Villages Charter High School. The governor also said the students showed character last year when many of them helped clean up debris in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. When the students look back on that, they should 'be grateful for all the wonderful things...

Brother Jeb would make 'great' US president: Bush May 10 12:05 PM US/Eastern President George W. Bush praised his brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush, as an "excellent" leader who would make a "great president" of the United States, according to news accounts. "I think Jeb would be a great president. But it's up to Jeb to make a decision to run," Bush told reporters at a roundtable interview here with several Florida newspapers. "I would like to see Jeb run at some point in time, but I have no idea if that's his intention or not," said the president, in...

Bush Backs Brother Jeb for White House By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago President Bush suggested Wednesday that he'd like to see his family's White House legacy continue, perhaps with his younger brother Jeb as the chief executive. The president said Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is well-suited for another office and would make "a great president." "I would like to see Jeb run at some point in time, but I have no idea if that's his intention or not," Bush said in an interview with Florida reporters, according to an account on the St. Petersburg Times Web...

Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday that U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris has dropped so low in public opinion polls she cannot beat Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November. "I just don't think she can win," Bush said at the Capitol in his strongest statement yet about his fellow Republican's struggling campaign. The governor has made no secret that he hopes House Speaker Allan Bense will challenge Harris for the Republican nomination. Harris was expected to file her qualifying papers Monday. Bense hasn't made up his mind, his wife, Tonie, said Monday from their Panama City home. The deadline for entering...

New Circuit Judge Karla Foreman Wright, left, embraces Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince after Quince administered the oath during an investiture ceremony Thursday at the Polk County Courthouse in Bartow. Karen Destiny Moses, center, and her brother, Damien Foreman Moses, play with flags during Thursday’s investiture ceremony for their great aunt, Karla Foreman Wright. A group of children participated in the ceremony during the Pledge of Allegiance. BARTOW -- Karla Foreman Wright beamed Thursday as family members, friends, colleagues and well-wishers celebrated her pioneering achievements in the local judicial system. Wright is the first black circuit judge in...

DAYTONA BEACH — The unemployment rate in Volusia and Flagler counties has fallen to historic lows, leaving employers scrambling for workers. In March, the rate was 2.8 percent in Volusia and 2.6 percent in Flagler, both lower than the statewide rate of 3.1 percent, the state Agency for Workforce Innovation reported today. The March unemployement figures for Volusia and Flagler counties are the lowest ever recorded and reflect an exceedingly strong job market locally and statewide. But some counties had even lower jobless rates. Walton County, in the Florida Panhandle, had the lowest number -- 2 percent. And 12 other...