Posted on 04/25/2014 8:14:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
In late 2011, nearing the eve of the formal start of the 2012 presidential election cycle, America’s liberal commentators had already watched a series of Republican presidential debates and formed their opinions of the prospective GOP candidates. Most determined that former Massachusetts governor and eventual nominee, Mitt Romney, was an unsavory conservative, but he was a preferable alternative to his Republican competition.
In fact, the left-leaning political press was so much more concerned about Romney’s arch-conservative competitors that they were willing to overlook the former governor’s offenses to liberal orthodoxy. According to the left-of-center press, virtually all of the Republican Party’s presidential aspirants in 2012 were literally crazy.
Former Salon writer and current MSNBC host Steve Kornacki called Romney’s approach to the primary process in August, 2011, amid the fleeting Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s bubble, his “sanity strategy.”
“To be a sane Republican today is to hope that Romney can hang on in Florida and beyond,” The New Yorker’s George Packer wrote in January, 2012. “A sane Republican has to want Romney as nominee in order to rule out any possibility of having Gingrich as President.”
Former MSNBC host Martin Bashir, who would later unfavorably compare the GOP’s presidential nominee to Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, called Romney a “beacon of sanity in a sea of stupidity.”
Of course, once Romney acquired the requisite delegates needed to secure the nomination, he promptly grew horns and was accused of complicity in negligent homicide while surrounding himself with virulent racists.
It’s a familiar pattern and it is happening again. This time, however, the “good” Republican is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. This month, a host of MSNBC analysts and contributors – and even a handful of Democratic officeholders – have been touting Bush as his party’s last, best hope for retaking the White House in 2016.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that, if Bush does not run, the 2016 cycle is “almost certainly” already lost to Republican.
“If they’re only going to be the party of older white people, they cannot win at a national level,” MSNBC.com Senior Editor Beth Fouhy agreed. “Jeb Bush thinking of getting into the 2016 race is giving them a glimmer of hope.”
“Jeb Bush would be a strong general election candidate for Republicans,” The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza assured MSNBC viewers.
Ronan Farrow named Bush his “hero of the day” for his comments about illegal immigration being “an act of love” as well as a federal crime.
It might be a few weeks late to get in on the ground floor of a trend, but CNN is joining the 2016 speculation game. With the Bush family, as well as the former Florida governor, clearly nursing media speculation around his future political ambitions, CNN’s Gloria Borger recently interviewed Jeb’s brother Neil Bush who revealed that former President George H. W. Bush is supportive of his son’s presidential hopes.
Borger observed that Bush does face an uphill battle in appealing to the Republican electorate, noting that it will be hard for a Bush to sell himself as a change candidate. No matter, interjected CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. Bush is the GOP’s only hope.
“If the Republicans want to win the White House, a lot of Republicans know this, they’ve got to carry states like Florida, for example,” Blitzer said, his argument supported by the fact that Bush last won a statewide election in the Sunshine State 12 years ago.
“Ohio, he would be formidable against Hillary Clinton in Ohio.” Blitzer continued. Why, you ask? Who knows. The only race Clinton ever won in Ohio was limited to Democratic voters and Bush has never even run, much less won, a race in the Buckeye State.
“If you want to win, you’ve got to have someone, presumably, like Jeb Bush,” Blitzer asserted. Borger agreed and added that former Democratic operative Paul Begala shares that authoritative opinion.
Guess who Wolf Blitzer thought was the “most electable candidate” in 2011? You guessed it: Mitt Romney.
Then as now, to say anything else would be to buck conventional wisdom. In 2011, however, at least Romney had polling data showing him to be the most competitive prospective candidate to face President Barack Obama in 2012. But at this absurdly early date, Bush currently polls worse in a general election against Hillary Clinton than the written off, utterly unelectable New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Republicans never seem to get the message, do they?
Watch the clip below via CNN:
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Being a RINO has nothing to do with his last name.
I spent months overcoming my reluctance to vote for Romney, however, I will spend no time at all in deciding not to vote for Jeb. No way, no how, never. I would rather not vote and let the chips fall were they may, then vote for this RINO.
If it was an election between Hillary and a Bush I’d say I couldn’t care less who won. It’s all in God’s hands.
“If they’re only going to be the party of older white people, they cannot win at a national level,” MSNBC.com Senior Editor Beth Fouhy agreed. “Jeb Bush thinking of getting into the 2016 race is giving them a glimmer of hope.”
*****************************************************
Jeb Bush ain’t no spring chicken, and last I heard he was a white man. I can think of lots of governors that would be better than another bushie.
GOPe seem to be slow learners, or maybe it’s just insanity - ya know: doing the same thing over and over without success.
The older I get, the more I appreciate Goldwater.LOL
Hillary 2016!
Better that than some stinking RINO, democrat-lite, political elite sh*tbag.
Yeah, I AM that fed up with all of it.
....”It’s all in God’s hands”....
Well, God did give us the “right” to choose so I will do so. But Bush isn’t going to run, especially with all the negative response he’s had by saying he might run.
I don’t think he wants to anyway...besides we’ve got some experienced and well grounded candidates to select from like Cruz, Rubio, Rand and a host of ‘far better’ potentials than Jeb.
I think it was Rush that thinks he was just testing the waters as a “reluctant” candidate and wants to get it out of the way sooner rather than later.
Let’s just vote for Cruz and be done with it! lol
Im not defending Christie but if you want a RINO: handsome fat man Christie is better than Jeb. He wouldn’t rule out fundraising with Steve King after the media attacked him.
Another Bush for president thread #189
It is good counsel not to get exercised over something that might not happen.
But all the signs are there. I don’t know how to get the message to the elites in the party that we veto this decision. But that’s the only power we have.
I don’t accept this specific premise. Even if one believes selecting a moderate RINO is the way to win then Jeb would be way down the list. This is based on what the media has been telling us over the last few years. With exception of his last name Jeb is a nobody on the national stage. Christie and Rubio are better nationally recognized RINOs.
So the reason they are now yapping about Jeb Bush is because they KNOW he is a loser
Uh huh. I wonder who was blitzers republican picks in the past. Mccain? Dole? Romney?
If not Cruz, Perry deserves another look. We need some Texas common sense.
They Need Jeb Bush to go to Mexico with his wetback wife, shut up, and never return!
Just trying to help.
Really.
I dont need a bunch of Commie a-holes telling ME who to vote for..the fact that they are all saying that we need Jeb Bush tells me HELL NO to Jeb Bush..I was already saying that before but this pretty much confirms it. A Progressive against a Progressive..gee what awesome options..NOT
Sorry I can’t go with Perry, he’s too much into the Globalist agenda, and where he’s not they will be sure to leverage against him to do their biding. He has so much going on on the Texas border with Mexico that involves the globalist agenda, so they can corner him.
But I’d sure vote for Perry over Jeb any day.
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.