Ten Reasons Why The GOP Should Say No To Jeb Credit: Huffington Post/AP It has been widely reported power brokers are anxiously waiting for Jeb Bush, a former two-term governor from one of the nation’s most important swing states, to decide if he is going to run for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. They wait because Bush is well-respected and presidential in stature. He has many positive attributes that would help the GOP attract Hispanic voters, so desperately needed if the party is ever going to recapture the White House. Bush is a convert to Catholicism, speaks fluent Spanish, and his wife, Columba, is a native of Mexico. With Bush’s name recognition and national profile, he could literally raise millions of dollars overnight, and all he has to say is “yes.” But here are 10 reasons why Bush in 2016 is a really bad idea: 1. Bush Derangement Syndrome Let’s face it, if Bush had the last name of Something Else, he would have already run for president in 2008 or 2012, and he knows 2016 is his last chance. But has enough time passed for the Bush name, linked to his older brother’s unpopular presidential legacy, to still be a factor in the minds of voters? Unfortunately, what Republicans like to call Bush Derangement Syndrome is still flourishing, and that is the most problematic aspect of a Jeb Bush candidacy. It is just too easy for the media and Democrats to reinforce the mantra, Bush = Bad. 2. Half of registered voters would not vote for Jeb According to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, 50 percent of registered voters said they would definitely not vote for Jeb Bush. Among independents, the results were 49 percent, and even 18 percent of Republicans said the same. Such results prove that the legacy of George W. Bush continues to have a negative effect on his brother’s political future. 3. Bush vs. Clinton 1992: “Back to the future” So what does Bill Clinton defeating George H.W. Bush in 1992 have to do with Hillary Clinton vs. Jeb Bush in 2016? It’s the media, stupid! The unfriendly media and Democrats will hammer home comparisons between the Clinton economy (good) vs. the Bush economy (bad). Both older Bushes will be easy targets for the concept that all Bush economies hurt the nation, and that will extend to Jeb Bush. Realistically, the comparison makes no sense for voters in 2016, especially after the Obama economy, but watch this concept take hold if Jeb Bush somehow does manage to win the GOP nomination. 4. Jeb would split the party Conservative activists/tea party Republicans — the majority of GOP primary voters — are not lining up for Jeb Bush in 2016, largely because of his stand on “Common Core” academic standards and his support for “amnesty” immigration legislation. Although he considers himself a “practicing conservative,” Jeb Bush is also viewed as a moderate establishment Republican in the mold of Mitt Romney. The good news is that means he does not scare independent voters and is capable of raising millions from the “country-club” Republicans. The bad news is Jeb Bush epitomizes the “establishment vs. tea party” divide currently raging within the party. 5. Jeb is sucking-up early money from other candidates The former Bush network and most of Romney’s financial backers are just waiting on the sidelines until Bush makes a decision. Then, crowning Bush the “money candidate” would buy party backlash on the right, increasing the divide. 6. Clinton and Bush families like each other The last thing we need is for the Clinton and Bush families to wage war. But war would be declared if Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton won their parties’ nominations. Consider this revealing quote from Bush’s mother, which aired on a C-SPAN’s series on first ladies: “I love Bill Clinton, maybe not his politics, but I love Bill Clinton. Bill’s father wasn’t around, and I think he thinks of George a little bit like the father he didn’t have.” The Clintons and the Bushes have also teamed up over the years on fundraising efforts after several global natural disasters. Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton also share a passion about education issues and have appeared together at various conferences, always exciting the press about a potential match-up. A Clinton-Bush family “feud” in the form of national election would be contrived, bloody and uncivilized.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 07:06:54 +0000
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