The comment that young people would be turned off is strange. Young people would like to see a woman as president. As for independents, they remember what the last Bush did and this one is just as stupid.

I didn't realize the GOP had anyone left *other* than hard-right purity loons.

No man can defeat Hillary.

For the GOP, it's Palin, or lose.

The "act of love" comment marked him as a contender while simultaneously destroying any chance of support from the GOP base.

Bush I was lackluster. Bush II was a disaster. Why would we want Bush III?

Bush/Palin in 2016. I wouldn't put it past the republicans. What a hoot that would be to watch the idiots spend all that money like romney did and lose in the end! It was inevitable and predicted so why do the republicans still think they can ever win any election? Crickets..........

6: Maybe Jeb would split the difference between lackluster and disaster? Lackaster?

@4: Oh my God, yes. I would absolutely love to watch 5+ debates of Hillary Clinton stomping the everloving shit out of Sarah Palin (literally, but I'd take figuratively) before coasting to a landslide victory.

Also, isn't the prospect of "President Jeb" frightening enough on its face to not let anyone seriously consider this guy?

I think any decision Jeb Bush will make will be after the mid-terms, as they are going to determine the upcoming political landscape for the Presidential election.

As a progressive and hard core lefty, I'm concerned about the mid-terms, fearing the loss of a Democratic Senate will pave the way for a rotten situation in D.C. - and if the GOP gets control of both houses of Congress, things are going to get really ugly, really fast. We need to get our people out there to vote.

Actually, I think the fact that Jeb Bush has been out of the political limelight for 12 years is a plus for him. Every Republican who has been on the stage during the past eight years has had to make statements to appease the Tea Party goofball wing of the party. So all of them have quotes on the record that put them outside the mainstream. Jeb does not.

Immigration is actually a good issue for him to use to separate himself from the Tea Party.
1) It is the issue in which the Tea Party nutjobs show their racism and xenophobia at its worst.
2) The traditional pro-business elements of the party do not really want to make it harder for low-wage workers to come to this country.
3) It makes Bush appear more centrist.
4) It appeals to Latino voters, a growing demographic
5) It appeals to the few Libertarians and Founding Father Fundamentalists in the party who would advocate for open borders

He is one of the few Republicans with a national reputation who is unsoiled by the Tea Party - and therefore viable in a general election - and immigration is the perfect issue to tweak their noses with.

@11 The last name is the clincher. Maybe in 100 yrs. when we are all dead and gone the bush name will only bring back vague memories of poverty, foreclosures and bank failures. By then half of the population will be living on Mars (all of them republican I hope) and the U.S. will be owned by China.