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For Jeb Bush, Evolving Views Over 2 Decades
New York Times ^ | JAN. 10, 2015 | MICHAEL BARBARO

Posted on 01/11/2015 11:53:34 AM PST by Pelham

Jeb Bush once called for building prisons and emphasizing “punishment over therapy” for juvenile offenders. Today, he supports reforming the criminal justice system, arguing that incarceration can harden low-level lawbreakers into career criminals.

In the past, he stressed using deportation to rid the United States of unauthorized immigrants. These days, he describes crossing the border illegally as “an act of love” by migrant parents and supports a path to citizenship for those who have done so.

He used to emphasize the rights of big landowners who felt cheated by environmental programs. Now, he is a champion of state-sponsored conservation, celebrated for his $2 billion program to restore the Everglades.

Mr. Bush, 61, the former governor of Florida, insists that he will not contort himself to satisfy the ideologues of the Republican Party as he lays the groundwork for a possible presidential run in 2016. But as he pledges to stay true to his beliefs, an examination of Mr. Bush’s record reveals ways in which those views have already changed since his first run for elected office — in presentation, in tone, in language and, at times, in substance.

The long trail of Mr. Bush’s pronouncements — from his days as a candidate for governor of Florida in 1994 to today in his role as a public policy expert bent on recasting the Republican brand — will inevitability invite suspicion from within his party that he lacks genuine conservative conviction, a wariness that he needs to overcome to win the Republican nomination. But the journey may give Mr. Bush the broader, cross-party appeal necessary to compete in a presidential general election.

Over the past two decades, Mr. Bush has shifted from a doctrinaire and, in his word, “headbanging” version of conservatism, forged in the crucible of Newt Gingrich’s revolt-driven Republican Party,

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: jebbush
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1 posted on 01/11/2015 11:53:35 AM PST by Pelham
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To: Pelham

He should change parties.


2 posted on 01/11/2015 11:55:43 AM PST by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: Pelham

If the “conservative” Jeb Bush actually existed we should have nominated him back in 2000 instead of his brother, but yes I’m reminded that he’s still a member of the Bush family, and establishment all the way! He would have found a way to betray conservatives eventually.


3 posted on 01/11/2015 11:56:23 AM PST by dowcaet
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To: Pelham

Two words. Teri Schiavo.


4 posted on 01/11/2015 11:57:29 AM PST by grania
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To: Pelham

“Evolve” is what someone does when they swerve further to the left than they already are.


5 posted on 01/11/2015 11:58:08 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (If you don't want to be an American, get the $@!%# out of my country!)
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To: Pelham

They aren’t called “Progressives” for nothing! Everything they do is “progress” towards a world of wealth for the elite and Marxism for the masses, without borders or nations.


6 posted on 01/11/2015 11:58:19 AM PST by Bryanw92 (Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: Pelham

All reasons to keep Bush out!


7 posted on 01/11/2015 11:58:48 AM PST by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else need s said?)
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To: Pelham

Jeb is a liberal POS NWO globalist. Two more words: Common Core.


8 posted on 01/11/2015 11:58:50 AM PST by ransacked
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To: Jim Robinson

And panties.


9 posted on 01/11/2015 11:59:16 AM PST by jwalsh07
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To: Jim Robinson
He should change parties.

Or maybe countries.

As one writer said when comparing Jeb to his brother:

"Jeb Bush looks to be a more competent executive in most areas but is unacceptable in any federal position to anyone not as crazily transnational as himself. He gives a strong impression of actually preferring foreigners over Americans."

10 posted on 01/11/2015 12:00:09 PM PST by Pelham (WWIII. Islam vs the West)
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To: Pelham

Devolving...but he does keep the views quite stylish.


11 posted on 01/11/2015 12:00:31 PM PST by MSF BU (Support the troops: Join Them.)
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To: Jim Robinson
I hope he will. He is the worst of the candidates. He refused to help Terri Schiavo while pretending he would, and he dislikes this country. His compassion is limited to illegal aliens.
12 posted on 01/11/2015 12:02:10 PM PST by Dante3
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To: Jim Robinson

The only I will EVER vote for Jeb Bush, is if he changes party and runs against Mitt.


13 posted on 01/11/2015 12:03:15 PM PST by The_Media_never_lie (The media must be defeated any way it can be done.)
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To: Pelham

More of “Compassionate Conservatism”!!!!!!!

All that got us with a ceremonial birth to 8 YEARS OF OBAMA!


14 posted on 01/11/2015 12:06:07 PM PST by LibFreeUSA
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To: Pelham
Over the past two decades, Mr. Bush has shifted from a doctrinaire and, in his word, “headbanging” version of conservatism ...

"Headbanging"?

Bush is going to lose because his campaign is too much about himself and how he has "evolved."

He's trying too hard to convince liberals to like him.

15 posted on 01/11/2015 12:10:58 PM PST by x
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To: Pelham

16 posted on 01/11/2015 12:13:20 PM PST by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: Jim Robinson

I think he already has but wants to first kick Conservatives out of the GOP.


17 posted on 01/11/2015 12:15:36 PM PST by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: Bryanw92

So true, unfortunately so.


18 posted on 01/11/2015 12:16:29 PM PST by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: FlingWingFlyer
“Evolve” is what someone does when they swerve further to the left than they already are.

"Evolve" is what someone does when they have no core.

19 posted on 01/11/2015 12:16:49 PM PST by COBOL2Java (I'm a Christian, pro-life, pro-gun, Reaganite. The GOP hates me. Why should I vote for them?)
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To: Pelham

20 posted on 01/11/2015 12:18:47 PM PST by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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