Jeb Bush possibly running for senate in 2010?

[DragnFly]

If Jeb Bush is in, Senate race is on

 

 

 

By Adam C. Smith, Times Political Editor

 

In print: Thursday, December 4, 2008

 

 

 

TALLAHASSEE He's tanned, rested and ready.

 

 

 

But two years out of the Governor's Mansion, can Jeb Bush, Florida's my-way-or-the-highway ex-CEO, really see himself in the "world's greatest deliberative body," plodding through slow-going compromises with 99 other U.S. senators?

 

 

 

"I am considering it,'' the two-term governor said of the Senate seat Mel Martinez will leave in 2010.

 

 

 

And with those four words, Bush has upended Florida's political landscape and generated a flood of national media attention on a race barely on the radar just two days ago.

 

 

 

Prospective candidates for the rare open Senate seat are effectively frozen in place, veteran Bush fundraisers are ecstatic about a potential new standard-bearer for a damaged GOP, and some longtime Bush watchers are scratching their heads.

 

 

 

"It was a shocker to me,'' said former state Republican chairman Tom Slade. "He has always been incredibly clear about his negative feelings about being in the United States Senate. But make no mistake, he is the 800-pound gorilla in Florida."

 

 

 

For all of Bush's derision of Washington politics over the years, longtime friends say he is seriously looking at running because of the times and the mess his party is in.

 

 

 

Bush, 55, sees a directionless Republican Party struggling for a consistent message and a set of core beliefs. No one has ever questioned Bush's core, conservative principles.

 

 

 

"I think it's a call to arms. I think he's been disappointed with the performance of the party nationally for the last year,'' said Al Cardenas, another former state party chairman and longtime friend of Bush's. "He is being encouraged by a lot of people at all levels. I know that he's going to give it serious thought for the next month, month and a half, maybe two months. And that's going to put everybody in a wait-and-see mode."

 

 

 

Indeed, a Bush candidacy would all but guarantee a free ride to the general election. No credible Republican would take him on. Two potential Senate candidates, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack of Fort Myers and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio of Miami, declared their support for Bush Wednesday as the Republican nominee.

 

 

 

Bush's hard-charging partisanship and his politically radioactive last name may seem out of sync in a state just won by Barack Obama, whose current Republican governor is sustaining high approval ratings as he stresses bipartisanship.

 

 

 

"Let me give him some free advice," former Bill Clinton strategist Paul Begala said on CNN Wednesday. "Change your name. Run as John Ellis, not John Ellis Bush. The Bush brand is probably what croaked Mel Martinez."

 

 

 

In Florida, though, the Bush brand is different from the Jeb Bush brand.

 

 

 

"There isn't a person in Florida that doesn't know Jeb Bush and know that he is his own man, his own thinker, his own innovator. They think of him as Jeb, not as a member of the Bush family,'' said Al Hoffman, a former Republican National Committee finance chairman from Fort Myers. "I'd be the first to line up with his supporters."

 

 

 

Some friends think a Bush candidacy is more likely than not. Others speculate that he'll bow out after methodically looking at the pros and cons. He has told people this week he is weighing family and business considerations, including his consulting business, Jeb Bush & Associates, which his youngest son, "Jebbie," has joined.

 

 

 

He is looking, also, at whether the Senate would be the best venue to advocate for issues he cares about most, like education reform, and to help rebuild he future of his beleaguered party.

 

 

 

Slade, not a close Bush friend, said presidential considerations may be at play, too.

 

 

 

"The reality is he has always envisioned himself being president of the United States, and he needs a launching pad for that,'' he said.

 

 

 

After two years keeping a low profile, giving paid speeches and working on corporate boards and his consulting firm, Bush emerged in interviews after the election lamenting that too many Republicans in Washington have lost their way.

 

 

 

In a recent interview with NewsMax.com, he called on Republicans to create a "shadow government" to debate Democrats and the Obama administration on substantive policy issues. Fluent in Spanish and married to a Mexican-American, Bush also said the party needs to reach out more aggressively to nonwhite voters.

 

 

 

"We can't ignore large segments of our population and expect to win," Bush said. "We can't be the 'old white-guy' party. It's just not going to work. The demographics go against us in that regard."

 

 

 

Source: http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/s ... 925467.ece

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It should be interesting if he decides to run for the senate position in 2010. On one hand, he was a pretty popular governor here in Florida, leaving office with something around a 58% approval rating.

 

 

 

On the other hand, his brother is not very popular these days.

 

 

 

What do you think about Jeb running for the senate in 2010? What would his odds be?

[baalboy5]

Who? seriously I don't know this guy, why he that important for a thread exactly?

[DragnFly]

Who? seriously I don't know this guy, why he that important for a thread exactly?

 

 

 

You might know his brother, President George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush.

 

 

 

Hes the president's brother.

[baalboy5]

Who? seriously I don't know this guy, why he that important for a thread exactly?

 

 

 

You might know his brother, president George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush.

 

 

 

Hes the president's brother.

 

O [bleep].

 

Hell no.

 

[/typical response from the uneducated]

[stevepole]

I've only heard good things about him, but very little for that matter. Only time I can vaguely remember hearing about him in the news was the last election (Bush Vs. Gore).

[venomai]

What do you think about Jeb running for the senate in 2010?

 

Jeb is an advocate of the death penalty, is against abortions, wants to see more federal funding for all aspects of the Drug War, more focus on abstinence in schools, concealed carry of firearms, etc...[1] Personally, I think we've seen enough of the Bush family. :thumbdown:

[stevepole]

What do you think about Jeb running for the senate in 2010?

 

Jeb is an advocate of the death penalty, is against abortions, wants to see more federal funding for all aspects of the Drug War, more focus on abstinence in schools, concealed carry of firearms, etc...[1] Personally, I think we've seen enough of the Bush family. :thumbdown:

 

 

 

Knowing all these minor details, I would not be for anyone that supports an epic failure that is the War on Drugs. Dem. or Rep. Republicans and their false allusions of safety :wall: .

[magekillr]

Unless the Democrats can cook up someone good, Jeb Bush would easily win that seat. I'd rather not have the man that was responsible for the results in Florida to take a turn towards Georgie win the Senate seat...I don't like cheaters.

[Barihawk]

What's wrong with him? You don't hear anything about him because he's doing a good job. Which doesn't sell news.

 

 

 

I'll be glad to see somewhat more equal representation in Congress again.

[magekillr]

What's wrong with him? You don't hear anything about him because he's doing a good job. Which doesn't sell news.

 

 

 

I'll be glad to see somewhat more equal representation in Congress again.

 

 

 

There are a lot of things wrong with him, a lot more than good, but I will say that he was good for Florida's economy and handled hurricanes quite well.

 

 

 

However, he would vote horribly in the Senate as per stances mentioned above.

[deloriagod]

I'd rather not see him in the senate since we seem to be almost opposite on most issues, but if he does manage to make it I'll just be glad he's not representing my state.

[Andy]

[Barihawk]

What's wrong with him? You don't hear anything about him because he's doing a good job. Which doesn't sell news.

 

 

 

I'll be glad to see somewhat more equal representation in Congress again.

 

 

 

There are a lot of things wrong with him, a lot more than good, but I will say that he was good for Florida's economy and handled hurricanes quite well.

 

 

 

However, he would vote horribly in the Senate as per stances mentioned above.

 

 

 

God forbid someone who thinks differently than you do should ever be put into power. Let's turn this into a fascist police state and condition everyone to believe the same thing. Wouldn't that be nice. No war, violence, crime. Yeah.

 

 

 

Just because people have stances that are different from yours does not mean they will act on those stances. He is not his brother. For instance, I oppose gay marriage. However, when it comes to voting on it I will refuse to vote either way as I don't agree with it yet I do not like the idea of denying people rights for such reasons.

 

 

 

Jeb Bush has voted against his beliefs before, all politicians do. It's something you have to do if you want to survive in politics. He's no different than any other Senatorial candidate. And from what I have seen of his governatorial career, he puts his constituency first before himself. Something a number of Senators could learn.

[venomai]

For instance, I oppose gay marriage. However, when it comes to voting on it I will refuse to vote either way as I don't agree with it yet I do not like the idea of denying people rights for such reasons.

 

In a hypothetical situation... Jim vehemently opposes equal rights for blacks and advocates for black slavery, but will vote neutrally on any such policies. Is it wrong for us to not want to see Jim in a position of power?

 

 

 

It's not that we simply disagree with Jim's views; it's that we consider his views -- particularly when in a position of power -- to be detrimental to the advancement of society as a whole.

 

 

 

More importantly, change will not occur if we all simply vote neutrally on topics of controversy.

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Not saying I don't want to see Jeb in office just because, say, he is pro-life or believes in God. I'm more concerned about his emphasis on teaching abstinence in schools, increased funding toward the drug war, etc.

[Barihawk]

On that note, why don't we teach more abstinence in schools? Not for religious reasons but for the fact that teenagers screw up sexual relationships? Off topic, but food for thought. I expect a crapstorm because most of you ARE teenagers but I digress.

 

 

 

Jeb should support the drug war because most drugs come into the US via Florida. Mostly cocaine, which is without a doubt a bad drug.

 

 

 

Also, your hypothetical situation is wrong, and not hypothetical. His name was Strom Thurman and he served in the Senate for forty years, only retiring in the last decade. People still voted for him because while he had very controversial political beliefs, he represented his constituency well. He was a good Senator.

 

 

 

Despite what you may think, everyone has a personal set of beliefs. They do not always involve these in everything they do. Most politicians don't. Most Senators do not. If Jeb Bush got elected, you'd forget about him in months. The only thing that stands out about him is that he is George Bush's brother.

 

 

 

There are many Senators on both sides of the table who believe the same things. You don't complain about them, do you? No, you complain about Jeb because of his brother.

[Lenticular_J]

to be detrimental to the advancement of society as a whole.

 

This made me giggle. There are few people who advocate actual advancement in this entire world. You just want change, to your own views. Nothing wrong with that, but it isn't advancement when the ideas have been around for a while.

 

 

 

More importantly, change will not occur if we all simply vote neutrally on topics of controversy.

 

See? I only quoted to show you.

 

 

 

I'm more concerned about his emphasis on teaching abstinence in schools, increased funding toward the drug war, etc.

 

I have to say, why shouldn't abstinence be taught in schools emphasized? I mean, you should teach kids to have safe sex over abstinence, but it should still be a part of the whole sex ed thing. I mean, you can't stab yourself without a knife (well, you can't stab and impregnate a girl...I'll stop before I go into detail).

 

 

 

Also, while I agree some of the whole drug war thing is wasted, not all of it is. A good slice of it goes to helping forces fighting the druglords in Latin America - in Colombia, they're the Mafia.

[jemathonical]

Each to his own.

[venomai]

You just want change, to your own views. Nothing wrong with that, but it isn't advancement when the ideas have been around for a while.

 

I want change (more comprehensive sex education) just like Jeb wants change (more abstinence education).

 

 

 

Just because the idea of women's rights has been around for hundreds of thousands of years doesn't mean we haven't been seeing an 'advance' in women's rights in the last one hundred years. Whether or not you see the current women's rights situation as "more advanced" than it was two hundred years ago, though, is another debate altogether.

 

 

 

On that note, why don't we teach more abstinence in schools?

 

If the desired effect is to reduce teen sex, pregnancies and STDs, current research suggests that abstinence and zero-tolerance policies are far less effective (and in some cases counterproductive) than comprehensive sex education.

 

 

 

Abstinence does not require any further emphasis in American schools, but that is not to say that it should be erradicated from education.

 

 

 

Jeb should support the drug war because most drugs come into the US via Florida. Mostly cocaine, which is without a doubt a bad drug.

 

More funding will not resolve the failure of the war on drugs.

 

 

 

His name was Strom Thurman and he served in the Senate for forty years, only retiring in the last decade. People still voted for him because while he had very controversial political beliefs, he represented his constituency well. He was a good Senator.

 

At the time of his election, he was also seen as a 'moderate' in his racial policies.

 

 

 

[hide=][Thurman] supported a minimum wage and maximum hour law, consistently urged abolition of the state's poll tax, advocated legislation to provide secret ballots in the general election, and championed the creation of a merit system for state government employment. In 1947, when a brutal lynching in upstate South Carolina shocked the nation, Thurmond quickly mobilized the state constabulary to apprehend the lynchers. Like other moderates in the 1940s and 1950s, Thurmond focused on modernization, undertaking an intense campaign to promote industrial development and economic growth in the state. Thurmond heartily believed that the South's racial dilemma would be solved through economic growth and development, not through federal interference.

 

 

 

Thurmond's assumption of the Dixiecrat mantle shocked South Carolina's small but active liberal community, which had great hopes when Thurmond was elected in 1946. In a letter to Thurmond, one African-American activist claimed he would have voted for Thurmond in the 1946 primary "were I not disfranchised" because "not once did you raise the race issue for political purposes."[/hide]

 

Source: http://hnn.us/articles/1166.html

 

 

 

His later campaigns sent a different message to the public.

 

[hide=]For many years, there's been a cherished Washington lie about Strom Thurmond. The lie is that Thurmond, though once a leading segregationist, later renounced that view as morally wrong. Trent Lott repeated the lie at his Dec. 13 press conference. Thurmond, he said,

 

 

 

"came to understand the evil of segregation and the wrongness of his own views. And to his credit, he's said as much himself. By the time I came to know Strom Thurmond, some 40 years after he ran for president he had long since renounced many of the views of the past, the repugnant views he had had."

 

 

 

It isn't just conservatives who believe this fairy tale about sin, remorse, and redemption. The New York Times buys into it, too. ...

 

 

 

Thurmond's much-hyped "reconciliation" with the black community over the years has come about not because Thurmond became a civil rights supporterhe clearly isn'tbut because Thurmond bought off a few key blacks with pork-barrel spending, political appointments, and the like. (Thurmond was always the kind of conservative who believed in the aggressive redistribution of wealth to his home state from the other 49.) It hardly made Thurmond the candidate of choice among South Carolina's African-Americans, but it muted black opposition sufficiently to keep him from being voted out of the Senate.[/hide]

 

Source: http://www.slate.com/id/2075453/

 

 

 

At present time, the results would be very different if a clear advocate for black slavery was to run for office.

 

 

 

everyone has a personal set of beliefs. They do not always involve these in everything they do. Most politicians don't. Most Senators do not.

 

If a candidate publicly advocates for racial segregation, it can be assumed that (s)he will involve that belief in their political work. This is exactly what Thurmond did.

 

 

 

No, you complain about Jeb because of his brother.

 

I'd be against his policies whether or not he was related to Bush.

[Kill_Thomas9]

If your last name is bush, winning any elections is doubtful now-a-days.

[Collective]

On that note, why don't we teach more abstinence in schools?

 

Ooh! I know this! I know this! It's because it doesn't work! That's why!

 

 

 

Also:

 

 

God forbid someone who thinks differently than you do should ever be put into power. Let's turn this into a fascist police state and condition everyone to believe the same thing. Wouldn't that be nice. No war, violence, crime. Yeah.

 

and the rest of the post after it is the dumbest [cabbage] I've ever read. Your argument effectively boils down to "Vote for my preferred candidate or you're a Nazi."

 

 

 

Of course someone's political view points should affect whether or not they're elected to a position of power. That's the entire point of democracy. Are you 'speshul' or something?

 

 

 

Edit: All right, not the *entire* point.

[Lenticular_J]

Ooh! I know this! I know this! It's because it doesn't work! That's why!

 

That's not abstinence not working. That's people rebelling. THE WORLD IS LIKE THAT. If you literally believe abstinence doesn't make you less likely to get an STD or knock someone up...Just no.

 

 

 

and the rest of the post after it is the dumbest [cabbage] I've ever read.

 

Sums up the rest of your post nicely.

 

 

 

Honestly, I can't wait for Barihawk to tear you a new one.

[Collective]

Ooh! I know this! I know this! It's because it doesn't work! That's why!

 

That's not abstinence not working. That's people rebelling. THE WORLD IS LIKE THAT. If you literally believe abstinence doesn't make you less likely to get an STD or knock someone up...Just no

 

LOL wat? I think you just knocked barihawk's post off the top of "dumbest [cabbage] ever" league table. I didn't say abstinence didn't work; I said abstinence education didn't work, and then you agreed with me. Stupid, stupid, stupid person.

 

 

 

I suggest you keep to cheer leading for barihawk from the sidelines in future.

[Lenticular_J]

Heh. Let me make this simple for you. You will gain no respect, on these forums or in life, by declaring someone's post "[cabbage]" or by calling people stupid. You come across as ignorant and too blatantly lazy to form any sort of coherent point. You are also incorrect. You did not say either "abstinence didn't work" or "abstinence education didn't work". You said "it doesn't work".

 

 

 

Also, my snide comment was due to my being on this board for a while and noticing Barihawk is quite good at debating. Judging by your two posts so far, you are not.

 

 

 

So, in contemplation of my post, I was harsh and only feeding you what you want. But, I really don't care. I like to be the one that points out how stupid people can be. I'll report my own post, since I'm being just as much of an [wagon] spamming up this thread. Oh, and next time you try to call someone stupid, use proper grammar. In the future.

 

 

 

Also, I have a rocket launcher. Your argument is invalid.

[Collective]

Heh. Let me make this simple for you. You will gain no respect, on these forums or in life, by declaring someone's post "[cabbage]" or by calling people stupid. You come across as ignorant and too blatantly lazy to form any sort of coherent point. You are also incorrect. You did not say either "abstinence didn't work" or "abstinence education didn't work". You said "it doesn't work".

 

Take a hint: I have no interest in your respect.

 

 

 

I believe I was reasonably clear that I was saying that abstinence education doesn't work, not only because I quoted a post that was talking about abstinence education, but also because I linked to an article about it. Again, stick to cheer leading.

 

 

 

Also, my snide comment was due to my being on this board for a while and noticing Barihawk is quite good at debating. Judging by your two posts so far, you are not.

 

I've been here longer than you. Hell, I've been here longer than him. I have no interest in 'debating' him - his post was absolutely ridiculous and I felt like pointing that out. Venomai was far too kind.

[Quoi_Tu]

I'm not a fan of most of Jeb's policies, especially education (he seems to mirror George on that). Personally, I'd like to see him kind of fade from the political scene, but I think the Bush family is too rooted in politics for that.

 

 

 

Also, my snide comment was due to my being on this board for a while and noticing Barihawk is quite good at debating. Judging by your two posts so far, you are not.

 

I've been here longer than you. Hell, I've been here longer than him. I have no interest in 'debating' him - his post was absolutely ridiculous and I felt like pointing that out. Venomai was far too kind.

 

 

 

You're a nasty little bugger, aren't ya?