Posted on 02/14/2009 4:43:12 AM PST by Jim Noble
His grandfather Prescott Bush was a U.S. senator, and his father and brother were presidents. Yet Jeb Bush doesn't believe in political dynasties, and seems perfectly willing to let his family's legacy of serving in high office in Washington pass him by.
But Mr. Bush becomes animated when talking about ideas and policy innovations -- he's an unorthodox Republican who latches onto reform ideas wherever he finds them. He's a fan of the school system in Sweden (more on this below)....
"Beyond the ideas and all of that," Mr. Bush says the GOP must be a national party. That means "we need to be competitive in California,"...
Republicans must also clean up their act on immigration, Mr. Bush insists. Last year, he says they "set a tone" that pushed Hispanic voters away. "The tone of the debate reached a point that was very damning to the Republican Party, and the evidence is in. The chest pounders lost."....
Mr. Bush supports immigration reform as championed by his brother and John McCain, which would allow illegals already in this country to stay. "Politics has to be about ideas and values and aspirations." he says. "It shouldn't be about anger and preying on people's emotions. You can't lead a mob."...
Mr. Bush has kind words for Mr. Obama. He was the first Democrat to win Florida since 1976, and Mr. Bush has nothing but praise for his "spectacularly well-run campaign....
Mr. Bush has a personal motive for urging Republicans to "avoid personal, partisan attacks" on Mr. Obama, a strategy they've largely followed in Washington. "I would never want Obama to go through what my brother went through.... But it's not right for our country, it's not going to help us, and it's not going to help Republicans."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
If Jeb-o seeks a run, he’ll drive every conservative in the nation into the arms of the closest alternative. Hopefully, that will be Sarah Palin. If not, another landslide victory for the RATs.
Clinton won Florida. Don't they have editors at the Wall Street Journal any more?
Mr. Bush supports immigration reform as championed by his brother and John McCain, which would allow illegals already in this country to stay. "Politics has to be about ideas and values and aspirations." he says. "It shouldn't be about anger and preying on people's emotions. You can't lead a mob."...
A(n) angry mob is exactly what elected Obama.
Out the damn Bushs’! GWB got us into this mess with his “just can’t we all get along” attitude. No more Specters, Collins’ or Snowes’ who don’t help us.
Fred Beetle Barnes and his moderate Weekly Standard share part of the blame for the GOP mess. He needs to take his DC-issue horn rims back to Baltimore and STFU.
Conservatives need to accept the fact The Republican party has been increasingly accepting the socialist principles of their Democrat counterparts for many years and move on. The battered wife syndrome of returning to a party and party leaders who seek to consistently smack down Conservative principles is a losing proposition.
I’d vote for Donald or Daffy before I’d vote for anybody named “Bush” again.
FWIW, I'm for Sarah all the way. Any deficiencies she lacks in experience, she makes up in spades in character. Further, Oba Mao proved experience takes a distant back seat to the novelty factor. A beautiful woman as president is far more of a novelty than a 3/8th African non-American.
More Bush Socialism! No Thanks.
Conservatives need to get off their fat asses and start winning more elections, rather whining like a bunch of school girls when non-conservatives do.
Mexico would be a good place for the Bushes.
I’m with you, Neighbor. The Schiavo murder finished JB for me. It’s a shame that Ross Perot was such a crackpot. He sure organized the turned-off republicans quickly.
Idiocy runs in families.
(Bush: Good on keeping the country safe, OK on judges (how many conservatives *below* the Supreme Court did he get in, and did he really alter the balance on the SC?), OK on tax cuts, sucked on everything else: mostly because he had the *public* charm of a freshly-bird-crapped-on statue, and never articulated nor defended his policies).
And God-awful on illegal immigration, cutting spending, giving reach-arounds reaching across the aisle to Dems (Kennedy education bill, signing McCain-Feingold, prescription drug benefits for seniors bureaucracy, not cleaning out the Clinton holdovers).
Yes, he kept us safe. Those aren't the limits of the President's job, stil less a "conservative" president.
Cheers!
On behalf of Bill Clinton.
No they don't. They didn't like Reagan either and still don't, even after he restored their pathetic party. The Bushes and their kind have purged Reaganism out of the GOP, and done great damage to the country.
Palin took on the corrupt Republicans in her state, and we need her to do it on a national level. She's going to get a lot of resistance from Democrats and the elite creeps at the top of the GOP. Her only chance is to appeal to the people as Reagan did.
Sarah Palin? The GOP “elite” do not want her in the national arena as much as the Dems.
Exactly, because Sarah Palin represents an upset to the status quo of the quasi-republican party. We don’t need any more socialist Bushes.
We need to rename the party, put a platform out for all to see, and let the chips fall.
Immigration will determine the fate of the GOP. Those who pander to Hispanics in the mistaken idea that they will become Rep voters are sadly mistaken. Our current legal immigration policies, in place since 1965, will ensure that the Dems are the permanent majority party. And those who advocate a path to citizenship for the 12 to 20 million illegals already here will just hasten the process. Demography is destiny.
You ruined an otherwise brilliant comment with your manifestly ridiculous first sentence.
{Teddy Roosevelt/Franklin Roosevelt}
“I would never want Obama to go through what my brother went through....”
Turn about is fair play.
As if being a Bush isn't bad enough, he didn't learn. Giving up great ideas and leadership has killed the GOP, along with the pandering that has replaced it. I bet Fred got all excited about the cheap labor to cut his lawn and clean his house, though.
What the hell does a candidate’s last name have to do with his qualifications?
Like father like son.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.