It looks more and more like Jeb Bush is going to run for president in 2016. If he does, he’ll surely run as one of those moderate Republicans that liberals in media claim to admire and respect, right up to the general election when they transform from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde and savage the Republican candidate in favor of the Democrat.
It’s an old story that we’ve seen play out before. The more a Republican disapproves of conservatives, the more the Democrat media complex approves of him.
Jeb Bush is already indicating that he doesn’t think he’ll need conservative support so he’s getting the Dr. Jekyll treatment from Jonathan Martin at the New York Times:
In New Election, Jeb Bush Stakes Out the Middle Ground
WASHINGTON — When former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida quietly visited Senator John McCain in his Capitol Hill office this fall, discussion turned to a subject of increasing interest to Mr. Bush: how to run for president without pandering to the party’s conservative base.
“I just said to him, ‘I think if you look back, despite the far right’s complaints, it is the centrist that wins the nomination,’ ” Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, said he told Mr. Bush.
In the past few weeks, Mr. Bush has moved toward a run for the White House. His family’s resistance has receded. His advisers are seeking staff. And the former governor is even slimming down, shedding about 15 pounds thanks to frequent swimming and personal training sessions after a knee operation last year.
But before pursuing the presidency, Mr. Bush, 61, is grappling with the central question of whether he can prevail in a grueling primary battle without shifting his positions or altering his persona to satisfy his party’s hard-liners. In conversations with donors, friends and advisers, he is discussing whether he can navigate, and avoid being tripped up by, the conservative Republican base.
In a post that explores this story at Hot Air, Allahpundit makes an excellent observation:
I’m not sure why John McCain, who’s happily posed more than once as a border hawk in primaries to pander to righties before reverting to form, is advising Jeb Bush to free his inner centrist. Either way, the takeaway from the Times story is the same as it was in the last few splashy “Jeb’s thinking about it!” features that have come down the news pike: As one ominous line late in the piece puts it, Jeb wants to run a “truth-telling campaign,” a phrase that sounds a lot like Huntsman-ese for “explaining to conservatives why they’re wrong.”
There are many reasons why conservatives wouldn’t get behind a Jeb Bush campaign in 2016.
No one has summed it up better than Kurt Schlichter of Townhall:
Will The GOP Lose To Hillary In 2016 By Nominating A Loser Like Jeb?
Who on earth who isn’t a Bush wants Jeb to run for president, much less actually be president? I could maybe get used to a guy being president whose name is “Jeb,” but not one who embraces Common Core, loves amnesty, and gives awards to Hillary Clinton. Go ahead and read how Jeb slobbered over her while giving Hillary a freaking medal for her sterling performance as Secretary of State. What next – a lifetime achievement Oscar for that goofy kid in The Phantom Menace? It should make for some interesting debates. She’ll say she’s awesome, and he’ll argue that no, she’s merely great.
If you like the sound of “President Hillary Clinton,” support Jeb or any of the delusional people I just mentioned. GOP establishment types, you’ve been warned. Want to get a hundred-plus retweets/favorites on Twitter? Diss Jeb. I usually can’t stand people who mutter about not supporting a Republican nominee because he’s not exactly who they wanted, but before I’d vote for Jeb I’d lick the floor of a Detroit bus station restroom.
There’s nothing I can add to that but… yes.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons.
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