Posted on 03/24/2005 10:10:41 PM PST by Former Military Chick
WASHINGTON, March 24 - Gov. Jeb Bush's last-minute intervention in the case of Terri Schiavo, even after the president had ended his own effort to keep her alive, may have so far failed in a legal sense, but it has cemented the religious and social conservative credentials of a man whose political pedigree is huge and whose political future remains a subject of intense speculation.
On one level, the Florida governor's emergence as the most prominent politician still fighting, despite a string of court and legislative defeats, to have a feeding tube reinserted in Ms. Schiavo was very much in keeping with someone who has repeatedly declared a deep religious faith.
Several associates noted that he had been devoutly religious longer than President Bush, and even critics said his efforts - prodding the Florida Legislature and the courts and defying much of the electorate - were rooted in a deep-seated opposition to abortion and euthanasia rather than in political positioning.
Yet inevitably, the events of recent days have fed the mystique of Mr. Bush as a reluctant inheritor of perhaps America's most famous dynasty since the Adams family two centuries ago.
He has assumed a very high profile in this polarizing case just as Republicans are contemplating the void that will be left when President Bush begins his walk off the stage in two years or so. At a time when many of the most frequently mentioned possibilities to lead the party are moderates like John McCain and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the governor now certainly has a place, if he wants it, as a prime contender in what is shaping up as a fight to represent a conservative wing that has proved increasingly dominant.
"He has strongly identified himself with the Christian conservative movement," said Matthew Corrigan, a political science professor at the University of North Florida. "If the Republican Party is looking for someone with good ties with the Christian conservative movement, he is the one who is going to have them."
Mr. Bush is barred by term limits from seeking a third term in 2006, and associates say they cannot imagine his running for a third term even if he were permitted to do so. Further, he has said he will not run for the presidency in 2008, an assertion that all but a few associates say they accept, though some Republicans think he may well run in 2012 or 2016.
"He's got no - as far as I know, and I really believe him - he's got no future political ambitions," said Cory Tilley, a longtime adviser. "And even if he did, he would be doing exactly what he is doing now. This is very clearly an issue that strikes at his core beliefs."
Susan McManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida, said: "He is a very ideologically consistent person. He made no bones about that from the first day he ran for office. Those of us who watch him think this is Jeb, and how he truly believes and what he truly believes, and this may be one of those instances where he's putting politics aside."
Still, several Republicans said that while Mr. Bush might be ignoring any political calculations in a case that has etched grief on his face, it would be foolish to underestimate the political skills of someone who has managed to win two elections to lead one of the nation's most divided states. His decision to continue the Schiavo battle on his own, within hours after the White House had effectively withdrawn, followed a letter in which Bill Frist, the Senate Republican leader, urged that he make sure the Florida Legislature acted "expeditiously on Terri's behalf."
Dr. Frist is arguably the other most prominent Republican seeking to inherit the president's mantle as leader of the party's conservative wing. But Mike Murphy, a close adviser to the governor, disputes the notion of any rivalry between the two men, especially in regard to the Schiavo case.
"I don't think it's a competition at all: Jeb's the guy on the spot," Mr. Murphy said. "He's the governor of the state."
Some Democrats were skeptical, however.
"This is less about Terri Schiavo and more about shoring up the Republican base, and that's a shame," said Scott Maddox, who is departing as chairman of the Florida Democratic Party and is a potential candidate for governor. "Politics has to be in play here."
At times this week, it almost seemed as if the Bush brothers were working in tandem; the governor's decision to re-enter the case once the White House had dropped it in the face of repeated judicial rebuffs may have saved the president criticism from the right. (Paradoxically, the governor himself was pummeled Thursday by some conservative activists, who demanded that he have state authorities physically seize custody of Ms. Schiavo and reinsert the tube.)
That would not be the first time the governor has come to the aid of his brother. But it is also not the first time he has intervened in the Schiavo case. In 2003, after a court ordered the tube removed, he and the Legislature enacted a law that empowered him to order it reinserted. That measure was later overturned in another judicial decision.
"Jeb Bush is not doing this for political reasons, in my opinion," said Jim Kane, chief pollster for Florida Voter, a nonpartisan polling organization. "Jeb Bush is smart enough to know that he is not going to gain anything from this, and he's probably going to lose something."
Pressing the issue could prove particularly problematic in a state like Florida, with a heavy population of elderly voters, who analysts say are more likely to recoil at government intervention in such a case.
In any event, some of Mr. Bush's associates suggest that for all the intensity stirred by the Schiavo case now, it will ultimately fade.
"Issues have a way of coming and going," Mr. Tilley said. "This one is a very deep one. But it seems like other ones always come up, especially here in Florida."
He doesn't have the 'testicular fortitude."
I'm thinking he thinks if he goes against the judges, his future career is toast.
He does not have a clue.
All those old people in FL aren't stupid. They are all imagining themselves in Terri's place.
Jeb/Condi '08
There's no doubt Jeb & W have the power to do what's being demanded of them here. The question is whether they can get away with it.
Jeb has been a rock. It was up to the legislature to save Terri. They did not. When the judiciary and the legislative bodies fail to do what I see as their duty, we can not blame the executive branch. They are coequal branches of government. 2 out of 3 have failed here. Jeb should not play dictator, even if he is right. Which he would be.
I have seen some of those comments and they frustrate me. The man has done so much in this case! She would have been dead long ago without his intervention.
I try to ignore those ignorant comments--and atribute them to people being upset and frustrated. I still believe that if there is any possible way to save her--the Bushes will try to do it.
They have been very strong and outspoken--it is without precedent how much both brothers have done in this case. I have true respect for both of them. I do hope more can be done--I do not want to see this innocent woman cruelly condemmed to death. But if the worst happens, it will not be the Bush brothers who I hold responsible for her death.
Sure seems like the judges in power are doing exactly that, anything they imagine.
I don't think less of Jeb or the President....I think ALOT less of deathocraps, lawyers, cops and other slugs who do the bidding of the evil black-robed thugs.
I am extremely frustrated by the complete lack of spine our elected representatives have when it comes to their masters in the unelected, accountable-to-nobody, judicial branch. They act like a pack of scared buuny rabbits and I will shortly be telling the RNC that my checkbook is closed.
My disgust is profound.
I second that.
Bush is running in 2012. If he were sincere, he'd go save her. He wouldn't let a state judge overrule a governor. IMO
I'll never vote for another Bush.
Only if their names were Clinton and had a "D" beside their names on the ballot.
This isn't Jeb's fault. Truth be told, it is the people who should do what must be done. Where is the hospice nurse of conscience to reinsert the tube herself? Why are all the police outside good soldiers for Greer? Cowardice is a bottum up phenomena.
I'm sure you're a bona fide republican. I bet....
I took the pledge all the way back in '91.. ;^)
Uncle George wrote "If he will send in the state police and place her in protective, he will be the most admired man on earth today."
I don't know if it would make him the most admired man on earth, but it would certainly make him a true governor. Frankly, I'm disgusted by the way one REPUBLICAN governor after another has allowed judges to order them about like county clerks instead of the chief executives they are supposed to be. The executive branch is NOT supposed to be subservient to judges.
Glad to know that the Governor and his Executive Branch have been so successful.
Bunky, you're the fool.
go suck a clam
Every Republican presidential ballot since 1976 has had a Bush or a Dole on it. I'm tired of Bushes & Doles myself. Had my fill for life. There's plenty of fine Republicans around to choose from. And, I don't like dynasties even aside from that.
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