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."
Yes, I do get testy expecially on the "elitist" cute little jabs at our President, as if he needed more cute little jabs.
That paragraph meant I also took exception to the idea that we must find a candidate that is pleasing/acceptable to the liberals so that they can not possibly find a negative to use in their campaign. That is junk because we all know that THEY WILL FIND SOMETHING AND IF NOT THERE THEY WILL CREATE SOMETHING TO USE.
The fear of the left is ridiculous on here. I have also heard that on each and every point in each and every article posted - we must not do this or the left will do ........
It is a fact they will be against any and every one we try to elect, they will mock, dig up dirt, lie, ridicule ......
So, just why are we to fear that and why do we spin our wheels trying to find one they will have a hard time finding a negative they can use. It can't be done and it is a waste of time.
We GIVE the democrats a great deal more power than we have to when we spin around trying to appease them, trying to alter our agenda so the democrats won't say ........
Phooey on them. They should be demeaned by blazing through what we want done, who we want to elect and playing down their trash talk rather than cowering in the corner with fear.
McCain is not a candidate we want - he is merely out for McCain and has stabbed us in the back three times - and is now in the process of doing it again with the controls of the internet he is dabbling in.
Don't be fooled by McCain. Any conservatives will understand why - he is a traitor to our goals, you cannot depend on him and he will turn on a dime.
So - you people just keep on trashing the decent people that would serve us well and promoting the bad ones like McCain.
Some of us see through that.
Giuliani/Jeb - I agree, a good ticket although Rudy is too pro choice for me and I'm not satisfied that he is a true conservative.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
I don't think serious criticism should be taken as a jab, and it is certainly not elitist. A president's duties are weighty, and his words and image are carefully studied. And we are at war. One of his weapons is the medium of television. Television communication is a technical art, and he must be able to wield this weapon extremely well. Therefore his ability to speak about his ideas, persuade others to follow him and inspire confidence -- within the parameters of the technical medium -- is paramount.
I do completely agree with you about not pleasing the liberals and not being afraid of them. Those are great words, Reagan words, and we all need to remember them.
Thanks again for the discussion.
Saving the best for last...Go Jeb!!!
I don't mean to jump all over you but I have just had it with having George Bush, the President of the United States as a punching bag here on FR and all through our culture.
Seems it is "in" to put down our president - shows how far superior all of us are compared to a mere man that was governor of Texas for two terms and managed to get elected as President of the United States for two terms. Why wouldn't we ridicule him, pull support away from him and make him fight our battles for us totally alone?
Yeah that is really cool.
Not me - I thank God we were given a George Bush and I don't expect the President of the United States to be my personal agent up there. I realize that the man in that position sees far more than I do about the world, has to deal with the facts of what is done and has to take the responsibility.
And, looking back, I cannot think of a man who would have done a better job.
And, to me, it is very sad that people - instead of supporting a man with more on his plate than most could ever handle - find it great sport to show how they would run the country far better than him.
And it is a pity that he has to do all he does with absolutely no support and continual threats of "if he doesn't do this, I will just show the GOP they lost my vote.....
Yeah, real, real great and they show what absolute clods they are - we are at war and George Bush is one of the most hated presidents. Be nice to let him think someone is behind him.
So, call me a Bush Bot - I take that as a supporter of the man fighting a war alone, one that appreciates that we were able to find a George Bush and just wish we had had a few more like him to have made our congress an effective partner for him.
If these are the front runners, I'd vote for Jeb Bush before any of the three.
NO MORE BUSHES !!
Good words. I myself have to remember that Moses was not a good speaker, but God used him. I know God is using Bush, too.
Thanks, brother.
That is one of the most arrogant remarks I have ever heard.
Bush is fighting nothing. He is over paid, over vacationed, and overvalued. he is caterered to, pampered, shuttled, guarded, living in the lap of luxury.
Our troops in the field are the ones fighting this war.
Bush with his Pollyanna policies and moral impotence is the reason they have been restrained from locating, closing with and destroying our enemies. Bush has risked nothing personally. It is the troops who fight, kill , die and suffer....And don't you ever forget it. It is our tropps that have been abandoned...by Bush. They are being denied victory due to political cowardice and moral impotence by our President.
Well, and you are a non-supporter of the troops or this presidency.
You know nothing of this war and the generals, defense dept and Bush are running it. I trust their judgement. Oh, and the president is in no way catered to - he is the punching bag for the world.
I am ashamed to have voted for him twice.
Oh, and by the way, the president who so flippantly allows the likes of AlSadr to continue to steal breath after killing our troops again and again and again, IS catered to, both literally and figuratively.
He will never know the pain of the troops. He has never, and will never suffer what the troops have gone through.
He has wasted innocent blood by not allowing the troops to win.
"The name Bush is just one people don't want to be drawn to in 2008"
You are right - and clinton is
I'm still mad at him for not stealing Bill Nelson's senate seat. We'd be in the majority now if he had run.
Not a chance in Hades.
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