2008 The Next Next President of the U.S.?
posted by on September 28 at 11:50 AM
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush was in town last night, speaking at a dinner for the Washington Policy Center (“Improving lives through market solutions”). There was a press availability with Bush beforehand, so I went down to the Seattle Westin to check it out. A very flustered woman ushered me into a small room filled with men in suits, one of them the president’s brother. We waited. The woman left. A moment later she returned, and addressed Jeb Bush by the wrong name, mistaking him for a reporter or event organizer or some such.
Ouch. The woman began apologizing profusely, and kept repeating the apology over and over again. “Why don’t you say it again?” Bush asked with a smirk. She clammed up quickly and Bush, perhaps realizing he’d shown a little too much of the mocking good-old-boy, said something like: “Bless her heart.”
Time for questions. I asked him about the presidential race, and what he thinks of the current Republican field. “It’s wide open,” he said. He wouldn’t name a favored contender, but he did say that he really admires Mike Huckabee for his accomplishments as governor of Arkansas.
I asked whether he’d want the vice presidential slot once Republicans have settled on a nominee.
“I’m in self-imposed exile for a year,” he said. “I had a pretty intense job… I’m really taking a year off from being involved in politics… In all honesty, my dream came true when I got to be elected governor.”
I noted that his brother would soon have some time off from politics, and wondered if he had any advice for him. He laughed.
“No,” he said. “He’s going to be in a different realm than I am.” (Then he joked about how he can go through airports and not get recognized, an experience his brother will never have.) “I’m not worried about him,” Bush continued. “He’s got a compass that points north. He’ll spend some time in Crawford…”
Ok. What about all this dynasty talk? Bush-Clinton-Bush, and now maybe Clinton again. Good for the country?
“I think that’s a legitimate question, to be honest with you,” he said. “I’m not casting aspersions on Hillary at all. But this a big country. There’s 300 million people. I could see why people would think it a little off that there’s been a Bush or Clinton in office since 1988.”
So does he believe Clinton is a shoo-in to be the Democratic nominee?
“I think that she’s going to be tough to beat in the primary,” he said.
I asked: What about all the criticism that your brother gets these days? Your father has been vocal about how it hurts him. What about you? Does it hurt you?
“I hate it,” he told me. “I hate it because I know it hurts my dad, and I hate it because he’s my brother.”
But, he added, he doesn’t worry too much about his brother in the end. “He’s got a tranquility that’s pretty amazing and he’s accepted the fact that some of his decisions are pretty controversial. I don’t think he’s angry. He doesn’t personalize any of this—and that gives me some comfort, because I take it personally.”
Someone in the room asks: Any presidential plans of your own?
His response: “I don’t have that blind ambition that you need to have to be running for president.”
This is why Gore/Obama must win. Or Obama/Gore.
Let's see. Four years of Bush I, followed by 8 years of Mr. Clinton, followed by 8 years of Bush II, followed by 4-8 years of Mrs. Clinton, followed by 4-8 years of Jeb Bush, followed by 4-8 years of Chelsea Clinton, followed by....
Ah fuck it, I'm moving to Canada.
Re: his response to presidential plans in the future-didnt HRC say something similar when asked the same question many yrs ago?
I sincerely hope he never runs. The name George is bad enough for pres, but Jeb? Jeb?
shoo-in - BTW -
Bush41/Clinton/Bush43/Bush44 scenario: Cheney (1) dies or (2) quits prior next year's primaries. Bush appoints his smarter (but less good-ol'-boy-pleasant) brother to be vice-president, thereby endowing him with valuable political incumbency. Jeb's Hispanic wife is an asset (broken English in a First Lady finally counts). If twin brothers can run Poland, why not here? In an amusing ironic twist, Gore picks Hillary to be his running mate. How to conclude this fairy tale? Your call.
Eli, the word is shoo-in, not shoe-in.
Regards,
The Spelling Nazi
Anyway, Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times wrote a great column, All in the Families, about the aristocratic implications of a Hillary presidency. And he worked in Jeb:
Thanks, Cressona. Fixed it.
Actually until Jeb's face shows less chipmunk cheek, he's got no chance in this lookist society. Same could be said of Al Gore whose excess facial flesh reminds one of a Chinese Mandarin. Bill Richardson - too fat. Kucinich - too ugly. What's this "People"-obsessed society to do?
I can tolerate another Clinton. I don't think I could take another Bush.
Jeb was always the smart Bush kid.
That's a relative use of the word, not an absolute one.
ABOVE
On you asserted standards, Mitt Baby is a shoe in- oh, shoo- in.
Flat out TV star telegenic.
And virile, five sons. That family shot will boost him five points. Men and women like manly public figures, and in that category it is all Mitt Romney. He makes the Bush boys look like common in bred Southern laborers.
Expensive and well tailored suits as well. Very nice, one only and smiling wife. Looks very young for her age and after five kids. All good.
My question is... what is on his tie?
Just went to Mitt's site - my question is - what is in his pants?
Yes, he is a hottie, esp. for an older guy.
Do we have him in running shorts anywhere?
the one good thing about the presidency of gw bush, is that he has absolutely ruined the "bush brand". his dad was awful, but he's off the charts as a failed president. bush likes to say that history will be the judge of his actions, as if he'll be vindicated at some future point. i think the opposite is true, he'll be judged harshly and almost held in a nixon-like pariah status for the rest of his life. once we get through cleaning up his mess sometime in 2016, there's not going to be some mad rush of bush-nostalgia. and, republicans aren't that dumb. they're going to suffer some rough years in the political wilderness due to this administration, and as a party they aren't likely to go rushing back in 2012 or 2016 to the arms of the same family that got them in the wilderness in the first place, regardless if jeb is the "smart one" or not.
How about George H. W. Bush return for another term? He is eligible. It would be grand to see the father upstage the son.
Jeb Bush was a pretty awful governor. Not the spectacular train wreck his brother is, though.
The Bush brand is alive and well. There were idiots who thought the Clinton brand was ruined after Bill "stained" the White House and they were wrong. The Bush clan will be back.
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