Posted on 03/24/2005 10:10:41 PM PST by Former Military Chick
WASHINGTON, March 24 - Gov. Jeb Bush's last-minute intervention in the case of Terri Schiavo, even after the president had ended his own effort to keep her alive, may have so far failed in a legal sense, but it has cemented the religious and social conservative credentials of a man whose political pedigree is huge and whose political future remains a subject of intense speculation.
On one level, the Florida governor's emergence as the most prominent politician still fighting, despite a string of court and legislative defeats, to have a feeding tube reinserted in Ms. Schiavo was very much in keeping with someone who has repeatedly declared a deep religious faith.
Several associates noted that he had been devoutly religious longer than President Bush, and even critics said his efforts - prodding the Florida Legislature and the courts and defying much of the electorate - were rooted in a deep-seated opposition to abortion and euthanasia rather than in political positioning.
Yet inevitably, the events of recent days have fed the mystique of Mr. Bush as a reluctant inheritor of perhaps America's most famous dynasty since the Adams family two centuries ago.
He has assumed a very high profile in this polarizing case just as Republicans are contemplating the void that will be left when President Bush begins his walk off the stage in two years or so. At a time when many of the most frequently mentioned possibilities to lead the party are moderates like John McCain and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the governor now certainly has a place, if he wants it, as a prime contender in what is shaping up as a fight to represent a conservative wing that has proved increasingly dominant.
"He has strongly identified himself with the Christian conservative movement," said Matthew Corrigan, a political science professor at the University of North Florida. "If the Republican Party is looking for someone with good ties with the Christian conservative movement, he is the one who is going to have them."
Mr. Bush is barred by term limits from seeking a third term in 2006, and associates say they cannot imagine his running for a third term even if he were permitted to do so. Further, he has said he will not run for the presidency in 2008, an assertion that all but a few associates say they accept, though some Republicans think he may well run in 2012 or 2016.
"He's got no - as far as I know, and I really believe him - he's got no future political ambitions," said Cory Tilley, a longtime adviser. "And even if he did, he would be doing exactly what he is doing now. This is very clearly an issue that strikes at his core beliefs."
Susan McManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida, said: "He is a very ideologically consistent person. He made no bones about that from the first day he ran for office. Those of us who watch him think this is Jeb, and how he truly believes and what he truly believes, and this may be one of those instances where he's putting politics aside."
Still, several Republicans said that while Mr. Bush might be ignoring any political calculations in a case that has etched grief on his face, it would be foolish to underestimate the political skills of someone who has managed to win two elections to lead one of the nation's most divided states. His decision to continue the Schiavo battle on his own, within hours after the White House had effectively withdrawn, followed a letter in which Bill Frist, the Senate Republican leader, urged that he make sure the Florida Legislature acted "expeditiously on Terri's behalf."
Dr. Frist is arguably the other most prominent Republican seeking to inherit the president's mantle as leader of the party's conservative wing. But Mike Murphy, a close adviser to the governor, disputes the notion of any rivalry between the two men, especially in regard to the Schiavo case.
"I don't think it's a competition at all: Jeb's the guy on the spot," Mr. Murphy said. "He's the governor of the state."
Some Democrats were skeptical, however.
"This is less about Terri Schiavo and more about shoring up the Republican base, and that's a shame," said Scott Maddox, who is departing as chairman of the Florida Democratic Party and is a potential candidate for governor. "Politics has to be in play here."
At times this week, it almost seemed as if the Bush brothers were working in tandem; the governor's decision to re-enter the case once the White House had dropped it in the face of repeated judicial rebuffs may have saved the president criticism from the right. (Paradoxically, the governor himself was pummeled Thursday by some conservative activists, who demanded that he have state authorities physically seize custody of Ms. Schiavo and reinsert the tube.)
That would not be the first time the governor has come to the aid of his brother. But it is also not the first time he has intervened in the Schiavo case. In 2003, after a court ordered the tube removed, he and the Legislature enacted a law that empowered him to order it reinserted. That measure was later overturned in another judicial decision.
"Jeb Bush is not doing this for political reasons, in my opinion," said Jim Kane, chief pollster for Florida Voter, a nonpartisan polling organization. "Jeb Bush is smart enough to know that he is not going to gain anything from this, and he's probably going to lose something."
Pressing the issue could prove particularly problematic in a state like Florida, with a heavy population of elderly voters, who analysts say are more likely to recoil at government intervention in such a case.
In any event, some of Mr. Bush's associates suggest that for all the intensity stirred by the Schiavo case now, it will ultimately fade.
"Issues have a way of coming and going," Mr. Tilley said. "This one is a very deep one. But it seems like other ones always come up, especially here in Florida."
Jeb is a coward.
He'll never send in the police to save her.
The only hope for Terri is hundreds of people need to storm that hospital and get her out of there.
It's called Homeland Security spending....
In 2000, the consensus of the American people was that we needed a prescription drug entitlement. Bush ran on it and kept his promise, BLAME THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!
we shouldn't have to be, here on FR of all places, having to defend Jeb and "W" - the guys with the white hats, when the fingers should be pointed at the black hats
does anyone know if the Tampa judge has given his decision on the new evidence plea yet? He said he'd stay up until he had it done
Yeah, whatever Newbie. Who are you kidding?
nuthin' but a troublemaker.
But why are you dissatisfied with them? Because they don't look like they are going to be able to save Terri?
Didn't they do more than anybody?
Your story is so pleasingly positive, Nick. It would be so great if you were right about this. I'd freak.
What are you doing?
It's funny. If Jeb is a coward, we all are.
Michael Savage, the most conspicuous demagogue on Terri Schiavo, hasn't left the Bay Area to organize an act of civil disobedience in front of the hospice. It's easy to talk sh*t, going out and putting yourself on the line is another story.
If Savage was governor, do you honestly think he wouldn't have sent the police to rescue her.
Hey, I wasn't the one who called a news conference and announced that I had the authority to do something and planned to do, then let a minor league judge at the COUNTY level convince me to abandon my plans. He and his legal team didn't seem to feel they lacked authority and power at the news conference. If he was wrong then he needs to call another news conference and own up to it.
The real villain is Sen. Jim -- double-wide ass - King. The "Republican" who spearheaded RINO resistance to the save-Terri bill.
Hey, I wasn't the one who called a news conference and announced that I had the authority to do something and planned to do, then let a minor league judge at the COUNTY level convince me to abandon my plans. He and his legal team didn't seem to feel they lacked authority and power at the news conference. If he was wrong then he needs to call another news conference and own up to it.
Hey, I wasn't the one who called a news conference and announced that I had the authority to do something and planned to do, then let a minor league judge at the COUNTY level convince me to abandon my plans. He and his legal team didn't seem to feel they lacked authority and power at the news conference. If he was wrong then he needs to call another news conference and own up to it.
He's not the Governor. he's a ranting nutcake on AM radio who never leaves the Bay Area. I think Savage is all hot air.
My comments here are because I just don't want Jeb Bush to run for president! I want someone better aligned with my principles and priorities and the Bushes tend to be diametrically opposed (they tend to be conservative in the ways I'm not and liberal/moderate in the ways I'm not - it's not 100%, but probably about 85% of the time).
With regard to Terri Schiavo, I think Jeb Bush has done all he could within reason.
what part of the fact that Greer has issued orders to the myriad police around the hospice to not let the state police on the grounds - did you not get?
or do you think a good old OKAY CORRAL shootout will get Terri out?
There are enumerated powers listed in the Constitution,for crying out loud and showboating/extravagant methods,such as have been called for here,aren't listed.
DO YOU PEOPLE WANT AN ELECTED PRESIDENT OR AN ALL POWERFUL KING?
Any people in mind? I can't think of one..
So who is the Republican pol that you'd like to vote for in 2008?
We have an all powerful king -- A Judge by the name of Greer who has decided that Terri should be killed. What part of this don't you get??
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