Posted on 05/10/2006 3:19:27 PM PDT by LouAvul
ORLANDO, Fla. - Could there be a third President Bush? The current chief said Wednesday that younger brother Jeb would make a great one, too, and has asked him about making a run. The first President Bush likes the idea as well.
Jeb Bush the Republican governor of Florida, has one asset that his presidential brother doesn't right now — approval from most of his constituents. While George W. Bush's approval ratings are in the low 30s, some 55 percent of Florida voters surveyed last month by Quinnipiac University said Jeb was doing a good job.
The governor has repeatedly said he won't be a candidate for president in 2008, but that doesn't stop his family from encouraging him to go for it some day.
"I would like to see Jeb run at some point in time, but I have no idea if that's his intention or not," the president said in an interview with Florida reporters, according to an account on the St. Petersburg Times Web site.
He said his brother would make "a great president" and that he had "pushed him fairly hard about what he intends to do."
"I truly don't think he knows," Bush said.
Jeb Bush, 53, will end his second term as governor in January. His brother George ends his second presidential term in January 2009. Neither can seek re-election because of term limits.
The governor got the buildup from his brother on the same day that he got some bad news out of Tallahassee. Florida House Speaker Allan Bense said Wednesday that despite personal appeals from the governor, he will not challenge Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record) for the party's nomination for U.S. Senate.
Jeb Bush has said he doesn't think Harris, the former secretary of state famous for her role in the 2000 Florida recount that clinched George Bush's presidential bid, can win the seat.
The Bush name could hurt as well as help in national politics right now. But because of that familiar name and family connections throughout the country, Jeb Bush has the luxury of being able to wait and decide if he wants to run while other candidates have to get to work early.
"Right off the bat, if he decided to run, he's got the advantage over many of the others who might be contenders," said Republican political consultant Rich Galen, who has known the family since George H.W. Bush was vice president. "He doesn't have to establish his name. He's got it."
And, Galen points out, Jeb Bush has dealt with a lot of high-profile issues including hurricanes, immigration and sprawling development in one of the most important political states.
His own father says no one believes him when he says he's not interested in running at some point. Former President Bush told CNN's "Larry King Live" last year that he would like Jeb to run one day and that the son would be "awfully good" as president.
The Florida governor laughed when asked about his father's comments last June and said, "Oh, Lord." He simply shook his head no when asked if he was running.
The brothers Bush appeared together Tuesday during the president's visit to the Tampa area. Gov. Bush was waiting on the tarmac when Air Force One arrived and greeted the president with a politician's handshake and "Welcome to Florida." The president brushed aside the formality and playfully adjusted his younger brother's necktie.
Jeb Bush introduced his brother at a retirement community in Sun City Center. They had a private lunch together with political supporters, then visited a fire station and appeared together before television cameras to express concern about wildfires that were blazing across the state. The governor was not with the president during his visit to The Puerto Rican Club of Central Florida in Orlando Wednesday — George W. Bush's final stop on a three-day trip to the state. But the president was sure his brother still got some attention.
"Yesterday I checked in with my brother," President Bush said as he took the stage. "Make sure everything's going all right. I'm real proud of Jeb. He's a good, decent man and I love him dearly."
Oh, good grief - not that old rhetoric. See my post #23 re dynasties.
And come to think of it , if Jeb ran, the Hilderbeast would be so outraged that no one could help her keep her true self under wraps. I can see and hear the screeching now. She'd turn off half of even her most staunch supporters.
Bet get over this catch word "dynasty" -
Yep... I-95 and US-1 come in to Georgia from Jacksonvill.. I grew up just north of the Georgia-Florida line. (Also, I-75 comes in at Valdosta).
Off topic, but this reminds me of a joke... You know what the difference between Georgia and Florida is? When you cross into Florida, there's a sign that says "Clean Restrooms." When you cross into Georgia, the sign says "Free Pecans."
got that right.
Why do so many people think that ANY president can do 100% of what he wants to - or that if he doesn't do everything exactly the way we want it done -well , "That's it. I'm taking my marbles and going home. So There!" ---and forfeits the field to the enemy. Talk about abandoning the party...
bump
Exactly.
I want a front row seat. They'd be so busy gnashing their teeth, pulling our their hair, screeching to the roof tops, that people would get a good look at who they really are -
We AUGHT to start floating the rumor that we're going to draft him...What fun. They would implode...
Even if it's the best bet in town? (see my post # 23 - I'm tired of repeating myself.)
Amen.
Amen
Amen
Most of understood, ad hoc - but there are those who will grab a tidbit and rubber-band it to get in a point of theirs that isn't relevant
It's not a catchword. It's a word expressing what it would be. It doesn't make the country look good if 2008 is a Bush/Clinton race, it makes us look like a country of morons. For one thing, Jeb is very vulnerable on the gas price issue because he's the genious that decided that, political pressure was on him because of offshore drilling in Florida, so maybe he should go to big brother and end offshore drilling which he did. You know, there should be rigs off the cost of Pensacola, Tampa, and even Horseshoe Beach. Much of Florida's coastal waters sit on the same petro field that the rest of the Gulf does. We've got better candidates in 2008, for starters, Haley Barbour. Anything bad people ever thought about him was erased in Katrina. I think he'd have a good shot at winning.
Gosh, you don't have to use the lib habit of SHOUTING at us.
The dictators of the world and the libs - (oh, there's not a lot of difference, is there?) SHOUT and foam at the mouth - good litmus test to spot them
I've always disliked the whole notion of political dynasties (a la the Kennedy's), and to be honest, I wasn't too keen on GW running for prez just because of that. But, he'd been a pretty good governor here in Texas, and after he won the primaries, I certainly fell in line and supported him. And, did so again, whole-heartedly in 2004.
But, I really, really don't want to see another Bush on the ticket anytime soon. I'm too steamed about the President's catering to illegals and Vincente, and the whole idea of Jeb waiting in the wings tends to leave me a bit, um, nauseated, at this moment.
Unlike.......ah, forget it. Some stuff ain't worth responding to
I don't know what's worse.
Unions blindly following Democrats or conservatives blindly following Bush or our so called Republican Congress.
I do not think the American people would go for it though.
I hesitate to us the word "dynasty" but I think the voters would be loath to create the appearance of one. We are so hostile to the idea of "hereditary rule", that many would not vote for him simply from an uneasy feeling about appearing to make it happen.
Is there any logic to it? No. But there doesn't need to be with the general population in an election.
But generally, I object to him of principals, not name.
That said, it would be TOO much fun to see the Libs completely loose it. But I think we'll see that eventually anyway.
Then why do we not hear any backlash to the thought of Hitlery =- the WIFE of a pres. - running?,
There's plenty to say against her but the fact that it would be 'dynastic' isn't mentioned..........
I know, I know. Cattle futures, land flipping, book deals, etc.
I guess I'd care less what they lined their pockets with if these folks just followed the Constitution. It gripes me that some of them line their pockets while pretending to be conservatives when they are not. I'm disappointed about that.
bump
One thing we can thank the kennedy family for -- very few reporters will be dumb enough to raise the "dynasty" spectre at the prospect of another Bush in the WH -- or at least, not directly. The leftist media have no objection to dynasties so long as their name is something like, say, Daley.
Well, for two reasons.
One, she is not his descendant, as is a king passing down his throne. And also, it would be only the second Clinton. Two from the same family we could tolerate, but three is pushing it. Same thing would apply if say Chelsy ran for President after a Hillery reign.
Please note, I'm not saying any of this has any validity, it's just that my gut tells me this is how the American people would feel.
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