Has Jeb Bush parodied himself to the point of irrelevance?

American Thinker ^ | Newsmachete

[RoosterRedux]

Jeb Bush seems to have a self-destructive impulse. No, not the same self-destructive mechanism that causes Scott Walker to announce contradictory policy positions with the speed of a tennis ball machine, but rather the urge to express sentiments that seems to show him to be more sympathetic to illegal aliens than he is to American citizens.

This urge could first be seen with his comments that illegal immigration is an "act of love." Never mind the thousands of illegals who have taken jobs from Americans and consumed our taxpayer dollars for education and health care, and the thousands more who have committed crimes, including murder. That was extremely tone-deaf. But it was only one comment.

Now Bush has done it again. He's gone to the border, presumably to show that even he would be tough on border security. Instead, he's made headlines by saying the Asian illegal aliens, not Hispanic ones, are the real problem.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush on Monday dismissed the controversy surrounding his use of the term “anchor baby," saying that he merely used the term to describe specific instances in which non-Americans are abusing the law to gain citizenship for their children, and that it was more of a problem among Asians.

“What I was talking about was the specific case of fraud being committed where there is organized efforts — and frankly it’s more related to Asian people — coming into our country, having children in that organized effort, taking advantage of a noble concept, which is birthright citizenship,” Bush told reporters during a press conference at Palenque Grill here in McAllen.

It's incredible. What's on the border of McAllen, Texas, Mr. Bush? Is it China? Is it Vietnam? No, it's Mexico.

[TornadoAlley3]

DUKAKIS.

[RIghtwardHo]

FOr the most part. But that doesn’t mean the GOPe won’t do all they can to nominate him.

[ballearthout]

He thought he would just walk into it. It was his turn. Nobody planned on Trump, and if they did, they did not take him seriously.

Now Jeb’s got all that money and has stuck his neck out. He’s got to let it play out and at least pretend to care. He will lose, but must appear to put up a fight. All that can take Donald out is Donald.

[aquila48]

Trump has them spinning left and right.

[Secret Agent Man]

If parodied now means fuched, I certainly hope so.

[Ohioan]

I have been pointing out that Jeb's irrelevance was demonstrated within hours of Donald Trump's entrance into the race. Does anyone even know of another case, where the supposed favorite in a political race, was almost instantly surpassed--almost effortlessly surpassed by a new rival within hours of that new rival's entrance?

Jeb has not really shot himself down. He did not have the charisma imagined by the media & Republican headquarters' personnel. He did not have the ability to deal with the unexpected. He simply never had the position of strength, never the image with anyone outside the media & Republican headquarters' personnel, that some of those folk had imagined.

He is not likely to gain a stature that he was imagined to have, that he never had to begin with.

I honestly do not wish the man ill. I cannot support him for President--both because of his policies, as well as his demonstrated inability to handle a real challenge.

[Rockingham]

As a fundamental attribute of personality, Jeb has a tendency toward selfishness and arrogance that at times leads him to express a reflexive disrespect of conservatives who have opinions that are out of alignment with his. In Jeb's calculation, conservatives will eventually have nowhere to go except to fall in line and support him as the nominee. That being so, for Jeb, conservatives are dim-witted fools if they strongly take up opinions that clash with his positions.

In addition, Jeb is badly out of practice as a candidate, having last been on the ballot well more than a decade ago in 2002 when he ran for reelection as governor of Florida. Over-funded and staffed by well-paid loyalists, Jeb's campaign lacks nimbleness and is blind to its central need to re-introduce Jeb to the country and to identify the country's problems and Jeb's answers for them.

Thus, as a Presidential candidate, Jeb comes across as stale and cloddish, with nothing pertinent to say to the conservative GOP base except insults and disrespectful comments. His new catch phrase -- the "right to rise" -- sounds like an ad tag for a brand of yeast. Worse, for millions of Americans, a campaign pitch about the poor and immigrants' "right to rise" suggests scanting the effort of the struggling middle class to keep what they have.

Worse, Jeb's description of Mexican illegal immigration as an "act of love" and that "anchor babies" refers to Asians but not Hispanics suggest a combination of crude pandering and utter disregard of the costs and burdens of illegal immigration. Jeb's marriage to a Mexican and deep appreciation for Mexico and its culture put him at odds with the fear of many Americans that their country is at risk of being overwhelmed by excessive immigration and a lack of assimilation.