Jeb Bush is the Smart One
Jeb Bush is going to bypass the chance to be Senator from Florida? Sure, that opens up the race to what we can hope will be a gain for the Democrats, but I’d like to have seen us thrash a Bush in 2010, so I am mourning his choice. Is he a coward? No, I suspect he is merely the far smarter brother, even if he is still carries the Republican taint.
He’s decided not to run for the Senate seat abandoned by Mel Martinez, who wouldn’t have had a chance since he was a George Bush rubber stamp. Here’s a bit of the story from the LA Times:
Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and brother of President Bush, has decided not to run for the U.S. Senate, ending weeks of speculation that he would try to preserve a family power center in the nation’s capital.
In contrast to his older brother, Jeb Bush left office with high approval ratings and a reputation as a master of policy. He was considered the strongest contender for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Mel Martinez in 2010.
Bush’s decision forces the GOP to defend a seat in a onetime Republican stronghold where Barack Obama’s presidential effort has built potent Democratic campaign machinery.
“There was a lot of support, and support from interesting places,” Bush said in an interview, “but this would have been a big detour in my life.”
Bush said he intends to focus on his growing portfolio of business ventures and to devote time to his family. He spent much of Tuesday calling friends and supporters to give them the news.
It is interesting that Jeb uses the whiney excuse of wanting to spend time with his family. that’s the excuse lots of Republicans use when they’re about to be found out as corrupt. But there’s little trail of corruption for the Jebster, only the taint of that last name.
I’d like to have seen Jeb run, so we’d have the opportunity to see him thrashed in what would have been the highest profile race in 2010. Alas, he’s chosen the smart and cowardly path.
I think the more important bit is the “growing portfolio of business ventures”. If JEB really is “the smart one”, then he’s got to realize that his chances of hitting the Presidency are zilch at this point. He could have the possibility of a lifetime tenure in the Senate OR he could move out and parley his connections and name into a lot of money via successful business ventures (an option that was never open to his brother). Nothing stops him from laying the groundwork for a future political run - either for himself or for his kids - but why not make some money instead of taking the big risks?
The “smart” guys have to be looking at Al Gore, who got booted out of politics before he was ready but remains influential AND has parleyed his connections and his smarts into a fortune since he left office. And the upshot is that when you do it, you don’t have to go out and campaign every couple of years to convince a bunch of schmucks that only pay attention to you every 4-6 years that you deserve to keep your job.
What NonyNony said. For all we vilify politicians, most of them don’t exactly have a bed of roses.
For all we vilify politicians, most of them don’t exactly have a bed of roses.
Which is exactly why the only folks who go into politics are the opportunists (who see a way of making something out of it), the petty power climbers (who are kind of like opportunists but instead of wanting to make a buck they want power for its own sake) and the public servants (who see more good in making a sacrifice to their own good to make the world a better place). Most pols are something of all three, which is why they need to be watchdogged - even the ones who are in it to make the world better can be swayed by appeals to their wallet and their egos.
That’s actually a major problem with the current GOP. Since the GOP rhetoric doesn’t value public service at all, you end up with very few Republican pols who have even a sliver of public service as their motivation and a lot of pols who are motivated by how much money they can get out of it and how much power they can grab for themselves. The anti-government mindset has done a lot of damage to the GOP as far as the quality of politician is concerned.
The anti-government mindset has done a lot of damage to the GOP as far as the quality of politician is concerned.
Not to mention all the damage it’s done to the government.
Not to mention all the damage it’s done to the government.
Of course - I kinda figured that went without saying.. And I find that far more troubling. But at least with the government they’ve had SOME pushback from the opposition, watchdog groups, other governments, state governments, etc.
Within their own party? It’s turned into all hate-on-the-government, all-of-the-time. With no groups trying to mitigate the damage. So hard as it may seem, the GOP has probably done more damage to their own party with it than they have to the government (though as I say, the damage to the government is worse).
If you can stand a little more belaboring of the obvious: The hate-on-the-government stuff had its roots in Southern resentment of federal enforcement of civil rights. When Nixon developed the Southern Strategy, the GOP adopted this “hate gummit” trope. It was the genius of Ronald Reagan (or his handlers) to realize that this could be conflated with the resentment of the rich about taxes, regulations, etc. to build a powerful coalition.
Now a black man is going to be president and the rich have turned into hapless beggars, trashing the economy and whimpering for a bailout. I’d say the coalition is pretty well destroyed.
For now, at least.