Jeb Bush ran an honorable campaign. Which was part of the problem. As Algore once said, 'You've got to rip their lungs out.' Jeb would have talked about top marginal rates and school vouchers in a race that would have required him to argue over and over 'Hillary! is worse than Hitler.' Which she is.
Jeb! was a fine candidate, for 2000. The man hadn't run for elective office ins 2002. Think about that. No social media, no twitter, no algorithms...This was the era where the GOP had just figured out, 'Hey, you have to have a get out the vote apparatus. Who knew?' Remember, this is the man who lost his race for Florida Gov in 1994, this was the year of the Republican. Every Republican one that year, except Jeb. I feel like Carroll O'Connor in Kelly's Heroes holding up a photo of his German rival and saying, 'Now this guy is a loser.'
Jeb! began the campaign at 20-25% and spent a hundred million dollars to get to 8%. He was the candidate of the investor class, the wall street class, the Chamber of Commerce types. These are the business men and they poured a hundred million bucks into Jeb! That was their judgement. Jeb! was a sound investment to them.
This is unsettling.
The Bush's are kind of an odd political dynasty, starting with the Patrician Senator Prescott Bush. Bush 41 was a pretty good president, winning the Gulf War, handling the S&L crisis, etc. I voted against him in my first presidential election. It was time. His son was an excellent president, and argument I have made here before. Interestingly father and son are two different types of Republicans. The father being an old tyme eastern establishment Republican, the son being more of a Southern Conservative. Jeb! was a wonkish 90's conservative filled with good ideas.
So that's the Bush dynasty. They're down but not out.
Don't get your hopes up, though, Bush haters.
George P. anyone?
No comments:
Post a Comment