Time has a column this week (7/1/13) from Jon Meacham looking at (gulp) possible 2016 election scenarios. The column entertains the possibility that former Florida governor Jeb Bush might run–which Meacham seems pretty excited about. As he explains, the Bush family is something to behold:
Jeb long ago internalized and then lived out his family’s guiding precepts. Bushes move to new parts of the country; they work hard; they learn from their mistakes, particularly from failed campaigns; and they never, ever give up.
Well they sure sound like interesting people. I would be curious to hear more about what George W. Bush has learned from his “mistakes.” In 2004 he was asked at a press conference if he’d made any and couldn’t think of one. (“‘I wish you’d have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it,’ Bush joked before taking a long pause”– Reuters, 4/14/04.)
But it’s not just Meacham who thinks the Bushes are pretty great; that’s apparently the judgment of the American public too:
Those who think “Bush fatigue” is pre-emptively fatal to Jeb’s chances may be underestimating the American affinity for brand names. The Bushes aren’t kings; in managementspeak, they’re a line of related products that most Americans recognize and have chosen on three (1988, 2000 and 2004) of the four occasions they’ve been on offer. Will we have a chance to buy another? George W., whose approval ratings are rising as the years pass, has said he’d like his brother to try for it.
Our feeling about the Bush “brand” notwithstanding, the American people actually did not choose George W. Bush in 2000–he lost the popular vote by a little over half a million votes. The Supreme Court chose George W. Bush as president. It was kind of a big deal at the time.
Jeb Bush was NOT the governor of Texas. It was George W. Bush.
Jeb was governor of Florida!
Opinions: Bush? “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe”. Thank you.
Why not Neil Bush? Having cashed in so much from a public bailout of his Savings and Loan, he’d be right in tune with Wall Street. Great fundraising prospects.
The Bush family is on a such a downward tailspin that I started out believing HW was the epitome of evil and now I kind of like him and look fondly back on his administration…
Losing popular vote really has no significance. Electoral college is the system that we have.
Mirza: Electoral college is the system we have, but the popular vote is far more significant.
Mirza, John Q: Bush lost both the electoral college AND the popular vote, probably. The Supreme Court stepped in and stopped an in-process recount of Florida votes that might very well have awarded Florida’s 25 electoral votes to Gore.
And the one thing “Shrub” learned from that, and repeated endlessly while in office, was if the state doesn’t do what you want, you defer to the Feds and the States rights be damned. If on the other hand the Feds weren’t co-operating, then it was all States ahead, until they suddenly stopped supporting him.
The man changed horses so many times in mid stream the horses never knew which way he would jump, or who was been ridden. On the other hand, Shrub was always about being a Zaphod Beeblebrox, drawing attention to himself and keep the media focused on him, while Sith Lord Darth Cheney went around the country gutting laws and cutting throats of areas that he didn’t like.
Jesus H Christ have we not at least moved on from the royal families that seem bent on having ruling positions over us all.I never wanna see another Kennedy, Reagan…Carter…..Bush,Clinton,or Obama in Office again.Hundreds of millions of people and we have to pick from a few families?This is why we escaped the Royal death spin.
@Hugh Caley
You say that Bush Lost Florida in 2000. Other people say that he won florida in 2000. How can we resolve this impasse? Maybe there should be some sort of ultimate arbiter. Maybe some kind of a court that is supreme to all the other courts. I don’t know, I will need to think about this one a bit more.