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Let Freedom Ring,
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."
The dems would drag Columbas little effort to smuggle purchases and not paying import duties through the mud forever all the while completely ignoring the many trnsgressions and murders by Mrs. Clinton.
Bush has already said that he's not running for President in 08. Even VP seems a bit far-fetched.
The question is whether the Nation will be ready for another Bush in 2012.
That's okay, Jeb. We'll rule it out for you.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. But we won't get fooled by a Bush again.
Any time a Florida-related thread is created on FreeRepublic, please be sure to add the "Florida" keyword to it so that interested FReepers don't miss it.
Let Freedom Ring,
Sounds pretty danged much like the Rats, Clancy. I'd re-think your tagline if I were you.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
I definately agree with this. "In the last couple of generations, we have placed huge demands on government. We need to have a conversation about that."
Anybody who leads a discussion of stripping down the government to a manageable mission would definately be on the right track imho. We need serious reform, if the Muslims would just leave us alone.
Joe, thanks for your alerts! Your diligence is very much appreciated.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family!
JEB! may be setting himself up for a shot at the VP nomination. The thought is that he may be used to help secure the conservative vote should Giuliani or McCain get the nomination.
1972 was the last year in which neither a Bush nor a Dole were on the GOP ticket.
I agree with this. The strategy would be for the RNC to hook him up with one of the 3 names he mentioned: Romney, Guiliani or McCain, the perceived front runners. In a way it makes sense because if the candidate is McCain e.g, the contrast of the older, dyed in the wool Senator paired with a younger, very successful governor balances out the ticket and adds a depth.
McCain/Jeb Bush VS. Hillary/Obama...
Who would win?
If McCain gets the nomination, it won't matter who his running mate is- he won't stand a chance. Giuliani/Jeb! would be pretty interesting.
Regards, Ivan
What is YOUR solution to this grave problem, who's going to do the jobs???
Articulate? Tougher for the left to lampoon?
How very superficial of you. You sound like a liberal elitist.
George Bush is fully able to articulate anything he wishes. That is a trite - very trite - very telling criticism of a fine man with a degree from Yale.
Where is your degree from please?
And, of course, we can only make it "hard" for the left to lampoon our candidates - that is all us weak GOP'ers are able to too - find a candidate that would be hard for the left to lampoon.
What a bunch of crock.
Jeb Bush is not wimpy and is not stupid.
He is presidential material but of course you cannot see that.
I tend to look at the quality, the integrity, the leadership ability of a man rather than his name, his wife, ya da,,,,,ya da.
No offense, but GWB is a *terrible* public speaker. A Yale degree does not magically confer charisma or eloquence.
Please note that I'm not attacking his ability to lead or his character as a man.
Wow! Sounds like I pushed someone's button! LOL!
Dubya is bright, can speak on his feet (sometimes), and knows what he's talking about. I give him that. But his syl-lab-ic stut-ter-ing style of emphasizing words makes him appear like a doofus (note, I said "appear;" don't get your undies in a bundle). If he graduated from Oxford or the Sorbonne I'd say the same thing. I love the guy, don't get me wrong, but I don't engage in hero worship and don't turn a blind eye to the big picture.
His syle of speaking, right or wrong, is historically the number one target of his detractors' ridicule. I'm not saying that's right. Just true. Do you disagree?
The elections are merely a consumer-driven advertising campaign to get the most support for candidates which the elite have already chosen behind the scenes. When we vote, we are merely ratifying their choices.
We don't live in a world where we can ignore the realities of campaigning simply out of blind ideology. Bob Dole taught us that (God bless that decent man). You find me a candidate who is running on a platform that FReepers and others agree with in overwhelming numbers. And I can promise you, if he looks like Jo-Jo the Dog Faced Boy, he doesn't stand a chance.
I'm not defending superficiality; I'm saying it is a fact of life.
And by the way, his education and mine are not pertinent to the discussion. You may as well defend him on his excellent physical shape. You can be highly educated and be inarticulate.
(Your second to the last paragraph is unclear. Can you tell me what it means?)
I agree.
Ah, thanks but no thanks. Eight years of your brother is enough for me.
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