There’s been a lot of talk about Jeb Bush over the last few days. If he does run, he should consider Liz Cheney as a running mate. They won’t even have to design new stickers.
I like Jeb Bush, it would be one thing if Bushes all lived is a town of 310 people and all took turns being mayor (and the sherif and the vet/doctor all at the same time) but we are a country of 310,000,000 people. It looks too broken democracy/third worldish to have these political families taking turns with the presidency. I can think of several people who would make great candidates in 2012 and some more who would be great candidates in 2016 or 2020 after they get some more accomplishments on their resume to run on. No more Bushes at 1600 PA ave for a while. If Jeb wants to run against Nelson in 2012, I would be all for it.
When considering the possbility of a Jeb Bush run for the presidency it is imperative that we take the high road and set a standard for reasoned, well-thought-out civil discourse for others to follow. We will thus set an elevating and enlightening precedent that will significantly impact the debate for the coming campaign of year 2012 (starting January 1, 2011 we will, of course, by our media friends, all be reminded that "next year is an election year.")
That being said allow me to add my own droll and tenative initial contribution to the coming discussion: Noooo. Oh, please dear God in heaven: Noooooo. Anything but that! A Romney-Huckabee ticket. Anything . . .
While I loved W, even with all of his foibles, as well as Cheney (both Dick and Liz), I think those days are done. Jeb would be a great candidate, were he not W's brother.
No, it's not fair but, alas, politics is not fair.
Sorry guys...we will never pull the lever for Jeb....he has never seen an illegal alien that he didn't want to adopt and take home like a puppy.
No more softies on immigration...period...ever.
And Boehner better not be a closet amnesty supporter with his "big family" background.
We are already getting Tea Parties set to tackle Lindsay Graham and Orin Hatch and flush the system of them.
We are going to tackle the illegal alienpalooza up front.
Then some other issues such as work on reducing Copyright length and the repealing or restructuring the DMCA and patent length back to the original intent or less.
Stopping the patentability of software, and genes. No more "business methods" patents. Software can be given a choice...either Copyright...or Patent a specific procedure...not BOTH.
Get the TParty involved in freeing up the internet with neutrality so it cant be turned into another Cable TV system and controlled by the Telco and Cableco's. the cables should be turned into a Utility accessible to anyone at the same fee.
Sorry folks, but I had a much different impression of this week's election than most people. In 2004, the GOP occupied 232 House seats. Come Jan 2011 it will be a dozen more. The Teaparty can claim victories in some but not all of those seats. And outside of Rand Paul's victory in Kentucky, the Teaparty candidates didn't do well. Angle didn't even come close to expectations; O'Donnel lost big as expected, and Miller lost to a RINO who was supposed to be DOA. The real loser in Tuesday's election was Sarah Palin and her presidential aspirations.
The GOP has a real problem come the 2012 primairies. Outside of thier core group of supporters, Newt, Mitt, The Huckster, Pawlenty, and Palin do not poll well. Palin is akin to Howard Dean. She is great at cheerleading, raising gobs of money at the grass root level, but she is very polarizing. Unfortunately she is the best the GOP now has to offer. In 2012, the GOP must retake Ohio and Virginia. It also needs to be more competitive in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. I have serious doubts that any of the above candidates can do that.
Jeb Bush has what none of the above candidates have; he has the ability to win the Rust Belt and Viginia as well as be competitive in those areas that are considered to be the Democrat's firewall. If he reconsiders his immigration stances, I see no real reason why Conservatives wouldn't give him a chance (other than not trusting another Bush, that is).As governor Jeb governed much more conservatively than his older brother. And he is much more engaged on the social issues than either his father or his brother. And finally, the Establishment Republicans would get fully behind him. We should remember that the election cycle just completed saw the GOP get outspent bigtime. Most Republican candidates were running on fumes during the last week. It was this more than anything that prevented an even larger victory. The Bush brand will bring in big bucks. None of the other other candidates have that going for them.
Unless we can ressurect the ghosts of Reagan or Coolidge, there is more than a 50/50 chance that Obama will get a second term. The current crop of assorted has-beens and misfits will not prevail, nor should they.
It's too bad we don't have an obvious pick for our nominee. Romney would have to continue to defend Romneycare or flip-flop on his continued support of it. Plus, although he's a great debater and very sharp guy, his ability to exude charisma seems lacking. Huckabee is too much of a cultural warrior, too little of a law-and-order guy, and too much of a Johnny-come-lately on limited government and economics issues. Palin is just too polarizing. Sure, she gets treated unfairly, but her tone alienates a lot of people in the middle. Newt---way too much baggage. It's probably too early for Jindal and especially for Christie, especially if we don't want to cede the inexperienced argument with Obama. Marco Rubio---definitely too early, as much as I hate to say it. Paul Ryan would be fantastic but the House to White House transition is such a big hurdle and he's said he's not going to try. I'm thinking our best bet is probably an experienced yet somewhat understated governor like Pawlenty (my governor) or Daniels although I definitely hear good arguments against them too.
I sure hope Jeb runs against Nelson. We need to pick up that seat. We're going to need all the Senate seats we can get to repeal Obamacare come 2013.
I have great respect for both 41 and 43, and I believe Jeb would be a good president, but this would be a major mistake and he would not have my support. The(unfounded) vitriol that is attached to W. and the dynasty / "American royalty" issues are two huge burdens that we just don't need to deal with.
JPK, those are interesting points and I agree with most of them. However, I would say with respect to Pawlenty, Huckabee, Romney, Newt, and Palin not polling well, well, Huckabee and Romney do seem to poll pretty well. Often, they are shown to beat Obama. Neither is my ideal choice, but I haven’t seen any poll showing them polling poorly against Obama, at least one that shows other Republicans polling better. As far as Pawlenty goes, I haven’t seen many polls that pitted him against Obama, but assuming he does poll poorly at this point, it doesn’t mean the same thing as Newt or Palin polling poorly. Pawlenty is very much an unknown at this point relative to Newt and Palin. Nationally, he’s seen as sort of boring, but people here in Minnesota know him to be a disciplined, skilled, and dynamic guy. He managed to win reelection in blue Minnesota in ’06 (albeit by a razor-thin margin), and in spite of the fact that Emmer is likely to lose to Dayton (by an even smaller margin than Pawlenty’s 2006 victory), the MN GOP did great this week. He’s managed to keep his approval at about parity in Minnesota during his second term, even though he blocked Democrats’ tax and spending efforts about as fiercely as anyone could have. I’m not saying he’s the best Republicans have to offer (even if we exclude those who haven’t been governors or senators for very long), but I do think that Republicans ought to take a good look at Pawlenty when considering who is best able to beat Obama and actually be a good president.
I do think Jeb would be a great president, supposing he isn’t too much of a squish on illegal immigration. (To be sure, I definitely don’t want us to run a Tancredoesque guy either.) If he wasn’t a Bush, I would think he would be our most obvious pick in ’12, all things considered.
Jeb should run for the Senate in 2012, win, and stay there until he retires. No run for President or VP. No more Bushes this generation.
As for 2012, how about NONE of the 2008 retreads? The entire crop of primary candidates and potential VP choices sucks. Even Palin is a bad choice, and I love Palin. But she is doing great things as an organizer and fundraiser and draws liberal fire to herself and away from actual candidates. She should be the next GOP Chair, but if she wants to be President someday she should avoid 2012 and spend the next several years bolstering her image among moderates and independents.
The rest of the 2008 crop?
Romney gave us a state level version of Obamacare and still supports it. He also never really inspired conservatives or the GOP base until it came down to him as the only alternative to McCain or Huckabee.
Huckabee is a charlatan. He uses the Bible as a shield against criticism of his big government liberalism. He can win a primary if there is no other candidate favored by the religious right and more than one opponent splitting the opposition vote - but he would be clobbered in a general. Yes, he polls better than Obama. Today. So would a dead skunk in the road, today. Give Obama a year to campaign against the "frightening specter of religious fundamentalism and southern white male racism" and Huckabee ends up with 40% of the popular vote. Especially when the tea party crowd loses momentum when forced to choose between two big government fiscal liberals.
Tim Pawlenty is a boring yawner who only won election as governor twice by being the least controversial candidate in the state that gave us Al Franken. The only reason ANYONE is seriously mentioning him is that John McCain liked him as a potential VP in 2008. That alone is enough to give me shudders.
Here is a thought: how about we focus on some NEW BLOOD for 2012? Look at some of the people who have won big elections AFTER the 2008 nightmare:
John Kasich
Chris Christie
Bob McDonnell
Jan Brewer
Marco Rubio
Personally? I dream of a Brewer/Rubio ticket. Finally break the ultimate glass ceiling - and do it without Sarah Palin (or Hillary!). Finally have a Hispanic American on the ticket. And both of these achievements would come from REPUBLICANS. Brewer is the hero of immigration enforcement. Rubio is the hero of legal immigration. We finally achieve the fusion we need to win on this issue.
This is the path we need to be charting from today forward. No more looking back at also rans from the past. Fresh candidates forward!
God, no. No more Bushes. The fact that Jeb was a very conservative governor is interesting but hardly definitive. How difficult is it to be a conservative governor in Florida? George W. was a conservative governor in Texas, and that was no big deal either. Put them in D.C. against an entrenched, powerful opposition and I'm afraid Jeb would collapse like a bunch of broccoli just as his brother and father did. The current crop of GOP frontrunners is, frankly, pathetic. Romney would be an awful choice...a stiff, rich, white dude who makes awful jokes about his hair. Huckabee is all Southern charm but he's all hat, no cattle. Palin would be a great replacement for Michael Steele, but is unelectable nationwide. Pawlenty has been less than impressive every time I've seen him. Gingrich's rightful place is as a behind-the-scenes idea man. All that said, it's too early for this discussion. Someday our prince will come, but it ain't today.
Or Ben Quayle...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI like Jeb Bush, it would be one thing if Bushes all lived is a town of 310 people and all took turns being mayor (and the sherif and the vet/doctor all at the same time) but we are a country of 310,000,000 people. It looks too broken democracy/third worldish to have these political families taking turns with the presidency. I can think of several people who would make great candidates in 2012 and some more who would be great candidates in 2016 or 2020 after they get some more accomplishments on their resume to run on. No more Bushes at 1600 PA ave for a while. If Jeb wants to run against Nelson in 2012, I would be all for it.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLove Liz but we've seen enough of the open borders Bush crew thank you!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhen considering the possbility of a Jeb Bush run for the presidency it is imperative that we take the high road and set a standard for reasoned, well-thought-out civil discourse for others to follow. We will thus set an elevating and enlightening precedent that will significantly impact the debate for the coming campaign of year 2012 (starting January 1, 2011 we will, of course, by our media friends, all be reminded that "next year is an election year.")
That being said allow me to add my own droll and tenative initial contribution to the coming discussion: Noooo. Oh, please dear God in heaven: Noooooo. Anything but that! A Romney-Huckabee ticket. Anything . . .
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRead my lips.
No. More. Bushes.
Good lord...I honestly thing some of you Beltway Republicans WANT Obama to get re-elected.
Good grief.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNever. So help me, I'd pull the lever for Obama before I'd put another Bush in the White House. Haven't they done enough damage to this country?
Bush the Elder derailed the Reagan Revolution (which I doubt he ever really understood or believed in).
Bush the More Recent paved the way for The Coming of The One.
We do NOT need another Bush. Sorry, Jeb. You might be a great guy. I don't even want to think about taking the risk of finding out.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhile I loved W, even with all of his foibles, as well as Cheney (both Dick and Liz), I think those days are done. Jeb would be a great candidate, were he not W's brother.
No, it's not fair but, alas, politics is not fair.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCan we make a deal with the American people here? No more Bush and no more Clinton? Please?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSorry guys...we will never pull the lever for Jeb....he has never seen an illegal alien that he didn't want to adopt and take home like a puppy.
No more softies on immigration...period...ever.
And Boehner better not be a closet amnesty supporter with his "big family" background.
We are already getting Tea Parties set to tackle Lindsay Graham and Orin Hatch and flush the system of them.
We are going to tackle the illegal alienpalooza up front.
Then some other issues such as work on reducing Copyright length and the repealing or restructuring the DMCA and patent length back to the original intent or less.
Stopping the patentability of software, and genes. No more "business methods" patents. Software can be given a choice...either Copyright...or Patent a specific procedure...not BOTH.
Get the TParty involved in freeing up the internet with neutrality so it cant be turned into another Cable TV system and controlled by the Telco and Cableco's. the cables should be turned into a Utility accessible to anyone at the same fee.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThank you, no.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSorry folks, but I had a much different impression of this week's election than most people. In 2004, the GOP occupied 232 House seats. Come Jan 2011 it will be a dozen more. The Teaparty can claim victories in some but not all of those seats. And outside of Rand Paul's victory in Kentucky, the Teaparty candidates didn't do well. Angle didn't even come close to expectations; O'Donnel lost big as expected, and Miller lost to a RINO who was supposed to be DOA. The real loser in Tuesday's election was Sarah Palin and her presidential aspirations.
The GOP has a real problem come the 2012 primairies. Outside of thier core group of supporters, Newt, Mitt, The Huckster, Pawlenty, and Palin do not poll well. Palin is akin to Howard Dean. She is great at cheerleading, raising gobs of money at the grass root level, but she is very polarizing. Unfortunately she is the best the GOP now has to offer. In 2012, the GOP must retake Ohio and Virginia. It also needs to be more competitive in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. I have serious doubts that any of the above candidates can do that.
Jeb Bush has what none of the above candidates have; he has the ability to win the Rust Belt and Viginia as well as be competitive in those areas that are considered to be the Democrat's firewall. If he reconsiders his immigration stances, I see no real reason why Conservatives wouldn't give him a chance (other than not trusting another Bush, that is).As governor Jeb governed much more conservatively than his older brother. And he is much more engaged on the social issues than either his father or his brother. And finally, the Establishment Republicans would get fully behind him. We should remember that the election cycle just completed saw the GOP get outspent bigtime. Most Republican candidates were running on fumes during the last week. It was this more than anything that prevented an even larger victory. The Bush brand will bring in big bucks. None of the other other candidates have that going for them.
Unless we can ressurect the ghosts of Reagan or Coolidge, there is more than a 50/50 chance that Obama will get a second term. The current crop of assorted has-beens and misfits will not prevail, nor should they.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt's too bad we don't have an obvious pick for our nominee. Romney would have to continue to defend Romneycare or flip-flop on his continued support of it. Plus, although he's a great debater and very sharp guy, his ability to exude charisma seems lacking. Huckabee is too much of a cultural warrior, too little of a law-and-order guy, and too much of a Johnny-come-lately on limited government and economics issues. Palin is just too polarizing. Sure, she gets treated unfairly, but her tone alienates a lot of people in the middle. Newt---way too much baggage. It's probably too early for Jindal and especially for Christie, especially if we don't want to cede the inexperienced argument with Obama. Marco Rubio---definitely too early, as much as I hate to say it. Paul Ryan would be fantastic but the House to White House transition is such a big hurdle and he's said he's not going to try. I'm thinking our best bet is probably an experienced yet somewhat understated governor like Pawlenty (my governor) or Daniels although I definitely hear good arguments against them too.
I sure hope Jeb runs against Nelson. We need to pick up that seat. We're going to need all the Senate seats we can get to repeal Obamacare come 2013.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have great respect for both 41 and 43, and I believe Jeb would be a good president, but this would be a major mistake and he would not have my support. The(unfounded) vitriol that is attached to W. and the dynasty / "American royalty" issues are two huge burdens that we just don't need to deal with.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseJPK, those are interesting points and I agree with most of them. However, I would say with respect to Pawlenty, Huckabee, Romney, Newt, and Palin not polling well, well, Huckabee and Romney do seem to poll pretty well. Often, they are shown to beat Obama. Neither is my ideal choice, but I haven’t seen any poll showing them polling poorly against Obama, at least one that shows other Republicans polling better. As far as Pawlenty goes, I haven’t seen many polls that pitted him against Obama, but assuming he does poll poorly at this point, it doesn’t mean the same thing as Newt or Palin polling poorly. Pawlenty is very much an unknown at this point relative to Newt and Palin. Nationally, he’s seen as sort of boring, but people here in Minnesota know him to be a disciplined, skilled, and dynamic guy. He managed to win reelection in blue Minnesota in ’06 (albeit by a razor-thin margin), and in spite of the fact that Emmer is likely to lose to Dayton (by an even smaller margin than Pawlenty’s 2006 victory), the MN GOP did great this week. He’s managed to keep his approval at about parity in Minnesota during his second term, even though he blocked Democrats’ tax and spending efforts about as fiercely as anyone could have. I’m not saying he’s the best Republicans have to offer (even if we exclude those who haven’t been governors or senators for very long), but I do think that Republicans ought to take a good look at Pawlenty when considering who is best able to beat Obama and actually be a good president.
I do think Jeb would be a great president, supposing he isn’t too much of a squish on illegal immigration. (To be sure, I definitely don’t want us to run a Tancredoesque guy either.) If he wasn’t a Bush, I would think he would be our most obvious pick in ’12, all things considered.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseJeb should run for the Senate in 2012, win, and stay there until he retires. No run for President or VP. No more Bushes this generation.
As for 2012, how about NONE of the 2008 retreads? The entire crop of primary candidates and potential VP choices sucks. Even Palin is a bad choice, and I love Palin. But she is doing great things as an organizer and fundraiser and draws liberal fire to herself and away from actual candidates. She should be the next GOP Chair, but if she wants to be President someday she should avoid 2012 and spend the next several years bolstering her image among moderates and independents.
The rest of the 2008 crop?
Romney gave us a state level version of Obamacare and still supports it. He also never really inspired conservatives or the GOP base until it came down to him as the only alternative to McCain or Huckabee.
Huckabee is a charlatan. He uses the Bible as a shield against criticism of his big government liberalism. He can win a primary if there is no other candidate favored by the religious right and more than one opponent splitting the opposition vote - but he would be clobbered in a general. Yes, he polls better than Obama. Today. So would a dead skunk in the road, today. Give Obama a year to campaign against the "frightening specter of religious fundamentalism and southern white male racism" and Huckabee ends up with 40% of the popular vote. Especially when the tea party crowd loses momentum when forced to choose between two big government fiscal liberals.
Tim Pawlenty is a boring yawner who only won election as governor twice by being the least controversial candidate in the state that gave us Al Franken. The only reason ANYONE is seriously mentioning him is that John McCain liked him as a potential VP in 2008. That alone is enough to give me shudders.
Here is a thought: how about we focus on some NEW BLOOD for 2012? Look at some of the people who have won big elections AFTER the 2008 nightmare:
John Kasich
Chris Christie
Bob McDonnell
Jan Brewer
Marco Rubio
Personally? I dream of a Brewer/Rubio ticket. Finally break the ultimate glass ceiling - and do it without Sarah Palin (or Hillary!). Finally have a Hispanic American on the ticket. And both of these achievements would come from REPUBLICANS. Brewer is the hero of immigration enforcement. Rubio is the hero of legal immigration. We finally achieve the fusion we need to win on this issue.
This is the path we need to be charting from today forward. No more looking back at also rans from the past. Fresh candidates forward!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLiz would be great....but without the Jeb Bush baggage.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhat a great idea... for the DNC.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseProposing the very clique everyone was so sick of that they listened to Obama = how to insure Obama's reelection.
Romney flip-flop on an issue? As if such a thing could ever happen! :-)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney-Santorum 2012
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGod, no. No more Bushes. The fact that Jeb was a very conservative governor is interesting but hardly definitive. How difficult is it to be a conservative governor in Florida? George W. was a conservative governor in Texas, and that was no big deal either. Put them in D.C. against an entrenched, powerful opposition and I'm afraid Jeb would collapse like a bunch of broccoli just as his brother and father did. The current crop of GOP frontrunners is, frankly, pathetic. Romney would be an awful choice...a stiff, rich, white dude who makes awful jokes about his hair. Huckabee is all Southern charm but he's all hat, no cattle. Palin would be a great replacement for Michael Steele, but is unelectable nationwide. Pawlenty has been less than impressive every time I've seen him. Gingrich's rightful place is as a behind-the-scenes idea man. All that said, it's too early for this discussion. Someday our prince will come, but it ain't today.
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