Sweet suffering national polity, I honestly thought “the smart brother” would have the sense of self-preservation (decency not being part of the Bush geneset) to lie low until more of us had the chance to forget the horrors of the Dubya Regency. But it looks like we are never going to be rid of these people:
Jeb Bush, the popular former Florida governor, said he will “stay neutral” in the state’s Republican presidential primary while warning his party’s candidates to leave the “circular firing squad” of their debates behind and start appealing to a broader audience.
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Bush’s remarks, in an exclusive interview, establish a challenge for his party’s candidates as the contest advances to Florida, where the Jan. 31 primary will take the race into its biggest and most diverse arena yet. The winner will be awarded all of the state’s 50 presidential convention delegates…
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The younger Bush described both Romney and Gingrich as “credible” candidates in a November contest with President Barack Obama. “I intend to help whoever wins the nomination,” the former governor said in the interview yesterday… At the same time, Bush said his party’s candidates should adjust the “tone” of their debate on issues such as illegal immigration to start appealing to independent-minded voters in “swing states” such as Florida with a history of voting for either major party. These voters are likely to decide the outcome of the 2012 presidential election…
__
The year before the 2008 Florida primary, Bush introduced Romney to advisers and friends as a worthy candidate but stopped short of endorsing anyone. In this year’s primary “I’m going to stay neutral,” he said. “I have a lot of friends supporting all the varying candidates, but more importantly I think the voters ought to make the determination.” …
DON’T BE STINKING ME UP W/UR LUZER COOTIES WILLARD U LUZER…
… The debate within the Republican primary over Romney’s success at Bain Capital LLC has made Bush “kind of dizzy,” he said. Romney should disclose his tax returns, as Gingrich has, and should be “talking about his successes” as he campaigns in Florida, according to the state’s former governor.
__
“He is clearly uncomfortable talking about his own success, which is natural,” Bush said of Romney, a multi- millionaire. “At the same time, I don’t think he has anything to be ashamed of. What a wonderful success story. It should stand as an example of American exceptionalism.”
Not included in the article: Whether Jeb immediately added ‘Bless his heart’ in the best Southern tradition.
Newt/Jeb 2012 — the Doughy White Boys dream ticket!
Baud
Jeb needs to Republicans to lose in 2012 so he can run in 2016 instead of waiting until 2020.
General Stuck
Said the one silver spoon to the other
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
Yeah, let’s talk about how the only industry Romney ever helped was pinkslip printing. He has produced what that contributed to the greater good.
Linkmeister
As Obama said (I’m paraphrasing), every damned country in the world thinks it’s exceptional. I’m so tired of hearing that nonsense.
Bruce S
Shakespeare does the GOP primary debates:
“Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog…
For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.”
Jamie
Nothing quite so stirring as the heroic efforts of the trust fund republicans
Warren Terra
At least according to what I read last night, this is a blow to Rmoney – Jeb!! was seen as being in Rmoney’s pocket, an endorsement he’d saved up for use when the contest reached Florida. To the extent that claim was correct, his staying neutral is a vote of No Confidence in Rmoney.
Tara the Antisocial Social Worker
He put “Gingrich” and “credible” in the same sentence?
My brain hurts.
MonkeyBoy
Maybe Jeb sees himself as the James Garfield of 2012 in a hung convention. Garfield had said he didn’t want to run and at the convention (1880?) he wasn’t on the ballot until like the 50th ballot after which he shortly won. He had the reputation of being smart and a decent person unlike the other Republicans who wanted to be president.
Villago Delenda Est
He’s following the Nixon strategy of gathering favors now for his own run in the future. Not supporting Romney now is important, he thinks Romney will be the nominee, will fail, and thus will be in no position to help him in 2016.
c u n d gulag
And Joe Wayne Gacy is sitting at home waiting for his chance!
I’m kidding, but Jeb may have a legitimate chance in 2012
And if not 2012 – then 2016.
The only thing Conservatives live for is to piss-off the Liberals.
And what could possibly piss Liberals off more than another Bush running for President?
hildebrand
I don’t care if Bush was the verifiably reincarnated Abraham Lincoln, his last name is Bush, and is thus toxic for at least another four years.
I don’t care how you try to spin it – another Bush equals a monarchy – and, by god, if we are going to slouch into a monarchy could we please find a better fucking family!
Curt
I think this may be the first time Romney has publicly and explicitly applied the word “disgrace” to Newt. I sooooo hope he throws it in Newt’s fat face at the debate tomorrow night. I would love to see the disgraced former speaker’s reaction to that.
Baud
PPP has a tweet saying Romney and Gingrich and “neck and neck” in FL polls. No numbers given.
Cacti
Gingrich beat up Romney and stole his lunch money in SC.
Willard can’t pretend he’s above the fray anymore.
BO_Bill
Can we please have an open thread?
dmsilev
@Baud: The debate tomorrow is going to be hilarious. Newt will be full of himself, knowing that Romney can’t really take a punch. Romney will be desperate to turn the narrative around, and very possibly will have some previously-little-known Newt Scandal to tell us about. Santorum and Paul will, somehow, try to get some attention.
Friday Jones
“Stung by defeat, Romney ready to right ‘tax mistake'”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/23/us-usa-campaign-idUSTRE80I2AT20120123
If only his taxes were the problem…
It’s more like his motherfucking income is the problem. (Among other things, natch.)
FridayNext
Little off topic, a little not.
Down here in Florida Mittens Super Pac is blaming all the anti-bain ads Newt is running on Obama and the liberals. Made me howl with both anger and hilarity.
Bondirotta
So now PPP is tweeting that Newt And Mitt are even today in Florida. Tis means Newt closed a 14 point gap in four days.
After Mitt has spent $4M in Florida.
There ain’t no cure for boring/mildly repulsive.
maya
Bush 45 Mitt Licker
Linda Featheringill
@FridayNext:
Maybe this is an effort to ward off accusations of doing the work of the Democrats. Treasonous!
The Dangerman
OT, but perhaps the Niner punt returner can share the rent with the Ravens kicker after they are both cut tomorrow.
David Koch
Eli > Payton
Linda Featheringill
According to a PPP report dated 01/16/2012, Romney had a 15-point lead over Gingrich at that time. That was 6 days ago. Wow.
[http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/florida/]
David Koch
@Bondirotta:
Oooooof. Mittens is toast.
Roger Moore
@hildebrand:
The verifiably reincarnated Abraham Lincoln would not be welcome in today’s Republican party.
Shawn in ShowMe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMxH3N2YLLY
In the above link, a Romney endorsement almost seems like a formality. Apparently the Romneytron 3000 was more impressive in the lab than in a production environment.
Friday Jones
@FridayNext: true dat. Jeb Bush = I’m from Florida, too! = And broke. = Fucking Republicans = Richey Rich Romney : Also, too, AWOLNATION: “Blame it on my ADD”.
Villago Delenda Est
@Roger Moore:
Jesus himself would be be slated for another crucifixion as a DFH if he showed up.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@David Koch: Sorry, but look at what happened to Indianapolis when Peyton got hurt. Peyton has been carrying the entire team for years. Eli has a better team surrounding him. He is a good quarterback when it counts, though.
Friday Jones
@David Koch: ouch
Gust Avrakotos
What seems completely lost on all of you is that Jeb is gearing up for a run in 2016. He was too smart to run this year. Without Obama to worry about and given his legacy he has a very good shot unfortunately.
RossInDetroit
@Gust Avrakotos:
Read comment #1.
Citizen_X
SEE? BUSHIES R SEKRIT LIBRULS!
/Wingnut.
@BO_Bill:
Fuck you.
jrg
Yes, please. I can’t think of a better way to end the Galtian wank-fest than for people to discuss how Mitt got rich. The mooks might be surprised to learn it doesn’t involve pizza, a perpetual motion machine, an iPod, or a brand new kind of kitchen appliance.
kay
How many times have we heard this from conservatives?
10? 20?
They engage in some crazy hate-fest, then one or another elder statesman appears, and tells them to change the “tone”, but only AFTER the voting is done.
It’s absolute bullshit.
What the country saw in SC is what they are.
Friday Jones
@Gust Avrakotos: Actually, re “lost on all of you”: Mais oui. Is he not a Bush? And, if I am not mistaken, he is considered the “smartest” Bush. (An oxymoron if I’ve heard one.)
BO_Bill
May you someday have copulation with a female Citizen_X.
dogwood
AL – We can’t get rid of Newt Gingrich; what made you think we would ever get rid of the Bush family?
Mary G
I think Jeb is one of the rats quitting the sinking ship of Romney 2012. That or he has his eyes on America “Elects.”
RossInDetroit
@Mary G:
3rd party? I think Jeb is too entrenched in the mainstream to veer off like that, if that’s what you meant.
DanielX
@Gust Avrakotos:
Yes, in view of his heritage I can see Jeb’s campaign slogan now:
“I won’t screw things up like my idiot brother!” We have a winnah!
kay
Why would they change their “tone” between SC and FL, Jeb?
Were they lying in SC or are they getting ready to lie in Florida?
Pick one.
I wonder what they’ll be in Michigan, or California, or New York?
Conservative principles change when they cross a state line, apparently.
DanielX
SuperPACs over all! I wonder if the all the Republicans who cheered that decision are happy, especially since Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment is as dead as he is.
Joseph Nobles
In ten or 15 years, we get about 5 ramrod Romney clones to attempt a new American GOP dynasty. I’m so looking forward.
RossInDetroit
It might amount to nothing more than Jeb seeing nothing to gain by being in the middle of the Newt/Mitt shitstorm so he’s sitting this one out. If that’s the case then maybe he in the smart Bush.
Yutsano
@RossInDetroit: Jeb won’t go third party. Too much family interest and money invested in the old school Republicans for that.
BO_Bill
My respectful requests being clearly denied, and my heart being pure, and True, I now boldly ask:
Eat it or not?
Mid-grade ‘motor-inn’ with a mechanized cooling device. The cleaning staff is white. Within the freezer portion are two containers of ice cream. One ‘expired’ in September of last year. This one I have already made a decision upon.
But the other expires in October of this year. Opening the cap, it is covered with ice crystals and some sort of film. But likely, scraping off the top inch would yield a nice dessert.
beltane
The Republican party is made up exclusively of sociopaths and gutless cowards. It has been this way for a long time but they used to at least make an effort to hide the fact. They don’t care any more; they’re like psychiatric in-patients who have given up on personal hygiene. After all, what is Newt Gingrich but a skidmarked pair of boxer shorts blowing in the wind?
RossInDetroit
@Yutsano:
That’s my take as well. He’s 3rd generation and that’s hard to buck. Company man to the core. But he’ll be playing his own angles this year to set himself up for a future national run.
DanielX
@Villago Delenda Est:
Well, duh! Liberal softy, just listen to this crap about loving others as you love yourself and turning the other cheek. Throwing bankers – er, moneylenders – out of the temple and this business about rich men, needles and heaven? Soshulist! Out of his own mouth! And what’s all this nonsense about who his father is, anyway? Michelle Malkin demands a blood test to see if he’s on drugs!
Lojasmo
Wow. Popcorn on the ready. Damn.
beltane
@BO_Bill: I wish we could feed all our trolls freezer-burned ice cream. Be my guest.
Mark S.
It might take a couple of overtimes for either of these teams to score.
dogwood
I think it’s interesting that Romney is blaming those Bain attacks on the president right now. Seems to me if he wants to win this thing he’s going to have to go after Gingrich. Who knows. I did get a call today from an ex-student whose working on the Ron Paul campaign. He said there are close to 600 delegates that Santorum and Gingrich have no chance at because of their failure to get on the ballot in places like Missouri and Virginia. This kid was in Iowa, NH and is now organizing in Nevada. He feels pretty confident that Newt doesn’t have the infrastructure to organize in caucus states. So maybe Mitt is going to stick with his strategy and just ride out the storm.
gvg
I don’t see a Bush winning another election this generation. I think it likely Jeb knows that ant I would even say two brothers couldn’t both be elected President even if the first on hadn’t screwed up. Jeb does however probably think a kid of his or another sibling might likely want to run for something someday and wants their to be a GOP for them to run in. the party looks like it might really be heading for disaster right now.
Someone here mad a good point that a brokered convention will be seen by the actual voters as a betrayal, especially the current enraged egoheads of the GOP base.
Romney seemed inevitable because its been clear for awhile the GOP didn’t really have something better and ALL the others running and even all the ones I’ve heard of a possibles before announcements were final, had SERIOUS problems in their background that weren’t really hard to hear about.Well Romney looks even weaker than I thought. the others are even worse too. The supposed party elders that are supposed to be wiser…I think the ones that I thought really were wiser lost primaries some time ago. I don’t actually see anyone at the controls. The other thing that was supposed to save them was the GOP money people-wallstreet/corperations. I’m not seeing it because the GOP positions are actually not in the best interests of business generally. Low taxes alone always do not make for good profits. Ron Paul for instance is terrifying and the other guys, even Romney are…not going to bring the real good times.
In order not to have a brokered convention, someone has to get enough delegates. Romney vrs anybody but Mitt is making clear that it is possible for Romney not to get there. I have the impression he needs 50%+1, not just the most delegates? Is that right? On the other hand Gingrich is not even on the ballot in all states-how many or few states is he not on, how many delegates is that? Is it significant? What if Ron Paul gets a lot more or even wins in states where only he and Romney are on the ballot? this mess is chaos.
I don’t think it’s surprising Bush chimed in now. I think he is now withholding the endorsement in case it’s needed to fix the mess. Probably it won’t be that significant, but it’s about all he has. It’s looking like the different factions of the GOP coalition don’t actually have simular best interests anymore though.
If the GOP really does split, historically that usually means reforming some new 2nd party from parts of the old plus some of the rival party, which then grabs the left out portion of the old party so our own familiar party could change into something quite different…
SiubhanDuinne
@BO_Bill:
Actually, Bill, because — and only because — the cleaning staff is white, I think you’d be safe in eating the ice cream that expired last September. In fact, I think you should.
The Dangerman
Yo, Niner #10: Fair Catch, asshole.
KG
@gvg: I could see Jeb running for a Senate seat, or maybe being VP, which could possibly set him up for a white house run; but yea, I think ultimately he’s looking to protect the brand for George P Bush, who I remember a few years back getting press as th next Bush
David Koch
It’s been a day of Ray Finckles.
SiubhanDuinne
@beltane:
We really shouldn’t feed the trolls at all. . . .
David Koch
Two teams teams going to the Super Bowl because their competitors choked on easy plays.
Maybe we should call it the Fortunate Son Bowl.
Shawn in ShowMe
@kay:
Noot in South Carolina: Obama is the food stamp president. He’s a Saul Alinsky radical. We need to a lot more guns along the borders to keep out people who Obama will turn into Saul Alinsky radicals. And for those immigrants who are here legally, real Americans speak English.
Noot in Florida: I’d like to give a shout out to Marco
Rubio, whose family is an inspirational story for immigrants everywhere. Not only is Marco an incredible (English) speaker, he understands that jobs are what make his story possible, not food stamps.
Noot in California: Nobody respects the work ethic of the Latino community more than I do. It’s a shame that this president would prefer to give you food stamps rather than policies that create jobs.
DanielX
Going way out on a limb here: Patriots would go through either one of these teams like Sherman through Georgia.
Hill Dweller
According to TPM, Romney is butching up his stump speech by implying Obama has never had a job.
Gust Avrakotos
@DanielX: If one idiot son can be prez for 8 years no reason the second idiot son couldn’t do it. There is nobody after Obama in the pipeline that I can see taking on Jeb.
No, not even Hillary. Don’t kid yourself, the firebaggers are dillusional if they think Hillary can win. Her one and only shot was 2008. She might of had a change then but ancient history now.
Water balloon
@DanielX: That’s what everyone said last time, when the Giants ruined their perfect season.
Shawn in ShowMe
@Hill Dweller:
The guy has no sense of irony at all, does he? With all this projection going on, how will he ever survive the Katie Couric interview?
SiubhanDuinne
@Shawn in ShowMe:
Katie Couric: Tell me, Governor, I’m curious, how many different positions have you taken on every possible issue in this campaign?
Mittens: All of them, Katie.
RossInDetroit
May I please be excused from the Comments? I have an early morning tomorrow.
DanielX
@Water balloon:
True enough, and since our homeboys the Colts have gone down in flames there’s nothing I’d like better. Tom Brady has a price on his head in these parts in normal times, and having to watch him preening right here for an extended period, well…it’s going to be like using Tobasco for moisturizer.
Linda Featheringill
@Hill Dweller:
Why? And why now? Those Republicans in Florida weren’t going to vote for Obama anyway. They might vote for Gringrich.
Roger Moore
@Hill Dweller:
One more lie isn’t going to make a big difference one way or the other.
ChrisNYC
It’s just that no one who wants a political future wants to go near any of these candidates. They’re all realizing that their best shot is going to have a rough rough climb. Why risk backing someone and then catching heat for the loss? It’s not in their PERSONAL self interest so of course, it’s out of the question. The prominent GOPers might as well just issue “don’t blame me” statements and go silent until after the election.
Villago Delenda Est
@David Koch:
AKA the George W. Bush/Willard Romney Memorial Bowl?
catclub
@Water balloon: True, but patriots will remember that ruined perfect season and want revenge.
Cacti
@Hill Dweller:
Focusing on the President and acting like the presumptive nominee was a good strategy prior to getting pantsed by Gnewt in South Carolina. Now it just makes him look a bit delusional.
Roger Moore
@Cacti:
You’re right, this is the wrong strategy. A little bit delusional is never going to do it with today’s Republican party; he needs to go for foaming at the mouth crazy if he really wants the votes.
Mike in NC
As I’ve before, that particular gene pool needs to be wiped out, Bolshevik-fashion.
eyelessgame
Jeb! makes good sense for VP. It’s been 84 years since the Republicans won the White House without either a Bush or Nixon on their ticket.
stratplayer
What could be more inspiring than the tale of a man, born into wealth and privilege, who, through hard work and pluck, overcomes daunting odds and somehow manages to remain wealthy and privileged? Now that’s character!