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Governor in Chief. Jeb Bush's remarkable eight years of achievement in Florida.
Weekly Standard ^ | June 12, 2006 | Fred Barnes

Posted on 06/02/2006 8:01:07 PM PDT by FairOpinion

IF ONLY HIS LAST NAME WERE SMITH. He'd not only attract national attention as the popular and successful governor of a difficult-to-govern state. He'd be viewed sympathetically as a leader who had dealt with family issues--his wife's aversion to politics, his daughter's bouts with drug addiction--without losing his grip on the governorship. And he'd be the prohibitive frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

But his last name is Bush. So Jeb Bush, nearing the end of his eight years as governor of Florida, has to settle for being the best governor in America. Not proclaimed the best governor by the media and the political community. But recognized as the best by a smaller group: governors who served with him and experts and think-tank and conservative policy wonks who regard state government as something other than a machine for taxing and spending.

Why is Jeb Bush the best? It's very simple. His record is the best. No other governor, Republican or Democrat, comes close. Donna Arduin, perhaps the most respected state budget expert in the country, has worked for four big-state Republican governors--John Engler of Michigan, George Pataki of New York, Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, and Bush. Even while she worked for Schwarzenegger, she told me Bush is "absolutely" the nation's premier governor. "He's principled, brilliant, willing to ignore his pollsters, and say no to his friends," she says.

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


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: bush; jeb; jebbush
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To: the invisib1e hand


101 posted on 06/02/2006 9:08:00 PM PDT by Texasforever (I have neither been there nor done that.)
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To: Echo Talon

Will a governor that has difficulty getting the attention of his state legislators have trouble with US ones?


102 posted on 06/02/2006 9:08:35 PM PDT by CindyDawg
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To: FairOpinion

"Why is Jeb Bush the best? It's very simple. His record is the best."

He stood tall and threw people off their private property in the Everglades and gave that land to snakes, alligators and leeches. What a record!!!

If he had another term, he could force people out of their homes in small towns and into tiny apartments in the big cities meant for gerbils. What a guy!!!

Then he could call his one world masters and ask how he might destroy other individual property rights. Hoorah for Jeb!!!

When it comes down to the individual and his rights in private property, George Bush is a patriot and Jeb is a Marxist land thief.


103 posted on 06/02/2006 9:09:21 PM PDT by sergeantdave (And though getting up in the world attracts attention, it does not establish solid worth.)
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To: CindyDawg

who knows, but making and changing law isn't his job. Same goes for the President.


104 posted on 06/02/2006 9:09:43 PM PDT by Echo Talon
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To: COEXERJ145
Oh yes, compare Terri Schiavo to Jesus Christ. And you wonder why 90% of the country thought Schiavo supporters were nuts.

Actually, the comparison was clearly between "governors:" Bush and Pilate.

Certainly, however, Jesus and Terri Schiavo share the common experience of having been unjustly condemned and executed.

Because the lunatics are running the asylum, you see.

105 posted on 06/02/2006 9:10:20 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (God might just be bullish on America.)
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To: the invisib1e hand

Yeah, Florida's a great place to raise a family.



Where are you raising your children???


106 posted on 06/02/2006 9:10:39 PM PDT by danamco
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To: the invisib1e hand

Sounds like you are one of the two people unemployed in our great state.


107 posted on 06/02/2006 9:11:02 PM PDT by Oldhunk
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To: the invisib1e hand

What did YOU do? Did YOU get arrested?

All hat and no cattle you are...


108 posted on 06/02/2006 9:11:18 PM PDT by statered ("And you know what I mean.")
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To: COEXERJ145
And you wonder why 90% of the country thought Schiavo supporters were nuts.

Oh, dear, another poll being cited to support our favorite viewpoint!

109 posted on 06/02/2006 9:11:40 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (God might just be bullish on America.)
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To: Echo Talon

I understand that but what is the President trying to do right now? Get congress to give him an immigration bill? They can't make laws but they sure know who can.


110 posted on 06/02/2006 9:12:01 PM PDT by CindyDawg
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To: statered
All hat and no cattle you are...

No hat. The governor had the hat.

111 posted on 06/02/2006 9:12:20 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (God might just be bullish on America.)
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To: Mad_Tom_Rackham

I bet if a liberal wins the WH in '08, and the Dems win Congress - the Bush years will be hailed as the Golden Age.

Which brings the point that a moderate like GW is infinitely preferable to a liberal. Yes, there's a lot of frustration with him, but it is good frustration. It isn't likely that GW will do anything that will get us all killed. A liberal, on the other hand, will probably do exactly that.


112 posted on 06/02/2006 9:12:56 PM PDT by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
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To: the invisib1e hand
"In Florida, if you're in any community of any size, you can't get to the grocery store without passing a "gentleman's club."

What are you talking about? I haven't passed a strip club in years. Move.

113 posted on 06/02/2006 9:13:03 PM PDT by FlJoePa (Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good.)
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To: isthisnickcool

In Schiavo's case, I think he did as much as could have been expected of an officeholder in a state with a republican form of government.

I'll have to agree with you about the immigration issue, though.


114 posted on 06/02/2006 9:13:35 PM PDT by Young Scholar
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To: FairOpinion

115 posted on 06/02/2006 9:13:45 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican (everyone that doesn't like what America and President Bush has done for Iraq can all go to HELL)
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To: Oldhunk
Sounds like you are one of the two people unemployed in our great state.

umm, so, what does your governor have to do with a secular land boom that began while he was still in college, or an information revolution and inflated money supply that enabled business development that was previously not feasible there?

116 posted on 06/02/2006 9:14:40 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (God might just be bullish on America.)
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To: the invisib1e hand
In Florida, when someone wants something done, within or without the "system," he gets it done. He doesn't even need to be the governor to do that.



Your making it sound like citizens in Florida have no respect for any kinds of law what-so-ever.
117 posted on 06/02/2006 9:15:32 PM PDT by AmeriBrit (ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION, IT INCLUDES TERRORIST SLEEPER CELLS!!)
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To: AmeriBrit

118 posted on 06/02/2006 9:16:22 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican (everyone that doesn't like what America and President Bush has done for Iraq can all go to HELL)
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To: coconutt2000

"It isn't likely that GW will do anything that will get us all killed. A liberal, on the other hand, will probably do exactly that."


==

And that is an important point. Libersals are too stupid to think through the consequences of their actions. They think if we just cower in front of the terrorists, they may take pity on us.


119 posted on 06/02/2006 9:19:54 PM PDT by FairOpinion (Dem Foreign Policy: SURRENDER to our enemies. Real conservatives don't help Dems get elected.)
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To: FlJoePa
What are you talking about? I haven't passed a strip club in years. Move.


120 posted on 06/02/2006 9:21:52 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (God might just be bullish on America.)
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