WhatFinger

Jeb Bush announces (on Facebook, of course) that he's probably running for president

By Dan Calabrese ——--December 16, 2014

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You've been poised and waiting to rail against this, so I'm not going to keep you in suspense. Jeb Bush has basically announced he's running for president. Here is the message in full, posted this morning on Facebook. A question for you will follow:
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! Like many of you, our family was blessed with the opportunity to gather together over the recent Thanksgiving holiday. Columba and I are so proud of the wonderful adults our children have become, and we loved spending time with our three precious grandchildren. We shared good food and watched a whole lot of football. We also talked about the future of our nation. As a result of these conversations and thoughtful consideration of the kind of strong leadership I think America needs, I have decided to actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States. In January, I also plan to establish a Leadership PAC that will help me facilitate conversations with citizens across America to discuss the most critical challenges facing our exceptional nation. The PAC’s purpose will be to support leaders, ideas and policies that will expand opportunity and prosperity for all Americans. In the coming months, I hope to visit with many of you and have a conversation about restoring the promise of America. Best wishes to you and your families for a happy holiday season. I’ll be in touch soon. Onward, Jeb Bush
OK, so he's "actively exploring the possibility of running," which means he's running unless he discovers in the course of "exploring" that the reaction to the idea is so overwhelmingly negative, he has no chance and doesn't need the headache. I'm sure many of you will do everything you can to make sure that is the message he receives. But here is my question for you. I know most of you don't want Jeb to run, but what exactly is your objection to him giving it a shot? Is it:
  • The fact that his last name is Bush and we've already had two of those, which causes you to infer he's playing on the name?
  • The notion that the "Republican establishment" wants him?
  • The notion that he is a RINO/moderate/squish?
  • Your expectation that he would lose to Hillary? (And if so, why do you think that would happen?)
  • A particular position he's taken on a specific issue? If so, what? And why is that one position a dealbreaker for you?
  • Your assessment of his record as governor of Florida in toto? (And if this is the case, what was your problem with it?)
I'm not asking this question because I feel strongly one way or the other about Jeb Bush, either as a governor or as a prospective president. If you read me regularly, you know that I kind of sort of have a candidate I like (Scott Walker), although I'm still open to lots of different scenarios. And if you read me regularly, you also know my general assessment of the George W. Bush presidency (much more positive than most people's, including most readers of this site, I suspect). But none of that makes me reflexively pro-Jeb or anti-Jeb. I just have the sense that certain people get put in boxes where they may or may not belong based on something someone says, and a lot of other people who don't really know that much about the guy just accept the characterization because they hear it so much. So Jeb Bush is an establishment/RINO/pro-amnesty/sellout/squish because that's what people say. I just wonder, before you rail against his candidacy, if you know enough about the guy to actually back that up. Go.

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Dan Calabrese——

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

Follow all of Dan’s work, including his series of Christian spiritual warfare novels, by liking his page on Facebook.

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