Posted on 12/10/2006 9:01:34 PM PST by NapkinUser
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says he is "not ruling in or out" running for president or vice president in 2008.
"I don't know what the future holds for me," Bush told NewsMax as he leaves office this month after eight years as governor.
"To be honest with you, the only job in public life that I've been interested in over the last 15 years has been to be governor. It's been my dream come true. I guess it's hard for people to appreciate, but I've never viewed it as a stepping stone to anything else."
Bush said he would feel comfortable with Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, or John McCain as president.
"I like Romney, but I'd also be comforted at night knowing that Rudy Giuliani was leading our nation in a time of war, and John McCain — all three of them," Bush said.
"Being president, your ideology is important, but your character matters a lot, too.
"One of the descriptors of being president that I think is one of the most important, frankly, is, can a father tell a daughter or a son about the president, ‘If you work hard and you play by the rules and you strive for greatness, you can be just like him,' warts and all? Because we're all imperfect under God's watchful eye, and in politics the imperfections are what everybody focuses on. I think they're all three admirable men."
Bush said he tries to tune out what's going on in Washington because the discourse has become so rancorous.
"The president tried mightily to get the Social Security reforms in place, but everybody was looking at the next election," Bush said.
"We have problems with Medicare, and the cost associated with that. We have too much litigation in our country. That puts a burden on our businesses that no other country has. Our capital markets now are becoming anti-competitive because of over-regulation. We're not training the next generation work force in a way that allows them to be competitive, and jobs will go elsewhere.
"And yet, if you watch what happens in Washington, one would get the impression that all is so good that there is no need to focus on the big stuff."
Despite facing the "profoundly important issues related to whether our freedoms are going to be protected against people who hate them and hate us, and whether we're going to remain competitive globally," the discussion in Washington is "puny and juvenile and bitter," Bush said.
Because of term limits, Bush could not run for governor again. He enjoys a 65 percent approval rating in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans.
The Education Governor
Helped by a sympathetic Florida Legislature, he has moved to assert more control over the budget process, judicial appointments, and the state's public universities, where he abolished race and gender preferences for admission.
Instead, those who graduate in the top 20 percent of each high school class are guaranteed admission to public universities.
Bush said he is proud that he has been an activist governor and was able to introduce accountability to the schools, raising standards and test scores even before the No Child Left Behind Act was passed. A big component of that was reintroducing phonics or sounding out letters to reading instruction.
Bush said that every public school in the state now teaches kids exactly how the letters of the alphabet are pronounced, as opposed to the whole language approach introduced decades ago by liberal educators, where kids are not taught to sound out letters. Instead, they are given books in hopes that they will get excited about them and figure out how to read on their own.
Despite the intent of the No Child Left Behind Act, more than half the public schools in the country still do not teach phonics. Roughly 40 percent of fourth graders cannot read a simple children's book.
Bush cited dramatic results after phonics instruction was reintroduced in Florida.
"We went from being second to last among the states in fourth grade and eighth grade reading to being above the national average in reading for fourth grade, and we're at the national average in eighth grade," Bush said.
"Florida is one of the few states where the achievement gap based on race and poverty is narrowing in reading and in math. We have seen these gains because there's pressure in the system now. The entrenched nature of the system prior to my arrival was a real challenge to change."
Bush said that while conservatives are rightly concerned about government spending, spending on education should be viewed as an investment.
"Our standard of living will erode, and we won't be competitive, if we can't remain the place where there's the greatest amount of innovation, where's there's the greatest amount of enhancements to productivity, where we apply math and science in a way that enhances our quality of life and grows income," he said.
"Being able to read and calculate math and to understand why history is important and have some knowledge of science is really, really important."
Departs With Fla. Economy Booming
Bush is also proud of having cut taxes every year "to the tune of $19.5 billion over eight years," he said.
"I'm proud that our bond rating has gone from AA to AAA – the only state to have done that. A year ago, we had $8 billion of reserves, in spite of eight hurricanes in two years. Because government, at the state level at least, isn't growing faster than people's ability to pay for it."
In addition, Bush said, "We lead the nation in job growth. Every month for the last four years we've been consistently, on a year-to-year basis at least, number one. The unemployment rate as of November was 3.1 percent. The economy is strong, and we're expanding into exciting sectors of the economy that will create higher-wage jobs as well."
Bush said he thinks Republican Charlie Crist bucked the national trend and won the governorship of Florida last month in part because "people thought that Florida was on the right track, so we were a little inoculated from the gloomy political atmosphere nationally.
"Charlie is a ferocious campaigner, a likable person, he connects really well with people, and he ran a very fine campaign against a good person but an uninspired candidate," referring to Jim Davis.
Republicans lost the House and Senate in the last election because of "deep disappointment [with] Congress," Bush said.
The issue of corruption and the "abandonment of some very important conservative principles as it relates to fiscal policy were part of it," Bush said.
"I spent eight years trying to explain to members of the legislature that earmarks were really not the proper way to implement public policy. And we certainly had our battles regarding that, but I have the power of the line-item veto here, so I got to express my opinions a little more forcefully, perhaps, than the president could."
When Republicans became more prolific in using earmarks than Democrats, "something's wrong," Bush said, referring to a way of funding pork barrel projects through specific line items in appropriation bills, as opposed to allowing agencies to determine where funds are spent.
"We're the party of fiscal restraint, and yet it didn't appear that way for a lot of people. And then the war is something. It's tough. Thank God, the president has been resolute, because it's not a popular war. And being popular is not what he cares about. For a short-term situation as it relates to an election, the war probably had an impact as well."
Terri Schiavo and Values
Bush said one of his disappointments is the death of Terri Schiavo.
"Put aside the politics, which everybody has their own views of . . . the woman [who] was starved to death," Bush said. "That's not something I'm very comfortable with.
"We did our best, we did what we could within the law to save her life. But it was for naught in the end. And we never could change the law that allowed such an occurrence to take place. Seems to me that she should have had a living will, and if it's an oral understanding, that we should err on the side of life. And in our state, that's not the case by the statutes that we have, which is a disappointment."
For Bush, the Schiavo case raised issues about values. Bush sees the war on terror and restoring values as the country's greatest challenges.
"How do we sustain a long-term fight against the jihadists, especially in a free society that's used to immediate gratification?" he said.
"And how do we recognize the importance of wholesome family life, virtues that are timeless, that really have been the linchpin of our country?
"Our strength really hasn't resided in how great our government is, it's the ability to govern ourselves. In the last couple of generations, we have placed huge demands on government. We need to have a conversation about that."
In the meantime, "I don't know what's going to happen to me next," Bush said. "I wouldn't rule it [running for president] out or in. It's not even on my radar." Nor is running for vice president.
"I'm kind of excited about not knowing, to be honest with you, just because it's the first time in a long time in my life where I don't know what I'm going to do.
"In all honesty, I'm looking forward to what the future holds, but I just don't know what it will be."
Of course you are correct. If he wasn't another Bush I would crawl over broken glass to elect Jeb as POTUS. He stands head and shoulders above any of our putative candidates in 2008.
But he could never overcome 'Bush Fatigue" at this point.
I'm bushed...enough already.
Semper Fi
THe names Bush, Clinton and Dole have been on every Presidential ballot since 1976. Who says America doesn't have a ruling class?
GOOD post.
If you haven't been following the Bushes' stance on illegals, you can do the research to familiarize yourself. Or maybe you can find an illegal to do it for you, since they are here to do the jobs that Americans won't do.
Younger.
Nobody who has been paying attention.
You aren't getting off that easy. Provide quotes for your assertions.
So you don't have an actual quote of any of the Bush family saying illegal are great, is that what you're saying?
I'm with you. ENOUGH already.
I like the guy. I'm afraid another Bush will be Bush overload, but he's better than almost anyone out there. He's articulate, fairly charismatic, and generally pretty principled. My preferences are Cheney, who would need a bionic heart, maybe we could get Disney Animatronics to trick something up... Rice, who says she doesn't want it, and Jeb Bush.
And, now, Bolton. Thats a guy who needs to be in higher office.
With a brief break for ranting against John "Live Shot" Kerry.
Yes, GHWB looking upon BC as another "son", and all the conservative failures of GWB, add up to Jesse "Shake Down" Jackson's "Stay outta da Bushes".
No problem, I'll do it for him.
Let's do some research on Duncan Hunter..
Anti illegal, very conservative, and an honorable candidate...
Just my opinion, hmmm...
Yup, he would be.
I wouldn't mind him as Vice President I guess, but I agree with the person above who said we should avoid dynasties.
George was considered to be an excellent governor too.
The sad thing is that he's far more capable than his brother.
Even so, I'll never vote for a bush or clinton.
Every GOP ticket since 1976 has had either a Bush of Dole.
It is time to move on....
If his name weren't "Bush" ,Jeb would be the next GOP nominee and the next POTUS.
I understand the dynasty thing, but is there anyone more qualified or temperamentally suited on the political scene today?
Will America say yes to such a thing? By then we will have had GHW Bush 8 years as VP, than 4 years, Pres., and his son 8 years as Pres.
That is 20 years of a Bush in the White House!
After 20 years, will the electorate really be willing to extend that to 24, or even 28, years?
The Clintons 'only' had 8 years! Heck, Hillary could win 8 years (very slim but possible), with Jeb STILL old enough afterwards for eight years of his own. And that leaves 16 years for Clinton and Co. to groom CHELSEA for office!
SOMEONE STOP ME BEFORE I GO COMPLETELY MENTAL!
At what point does this truly become a dynastic Bush reign engineered by the elite, totally out of the public's hands, except for a questionable 'ratification' every term by the public? A 'consumer' public who has NO control over the nominees (party hacks only, please) and who is deftly marketed by a consumer-savvy marketing industry?
Jim, check my oil, I think I'm down a quart.
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