The Caledonian Record of St. Johnsbury (Vt.), Dec. 29:
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, brother of George W., has let it be known that he will enter the race for the Republican nomination for President in 2016.
Some conservative voices ”“ notably National Review and the Wall Street Journal ”“ have good things to say about Bush. “As governor of Florida from 1999 through 2007, he advanced conservative goals on taxes, school choice, privatization, racial preferences, the right to life, and many other issues. He did all this and left office popular in a swing state,” the National Review notes.
Others, including us, worry about the increasing possibility of a dynastic landscape featuring another Clinton/Bush matchup. Worse, maybe, is the way the two royal families have taken to fawning over each other. As Charlie Cooke writes in the National Review, “George W. Bush has referred to Bill Clinton as ”˜my brother from another mother’ and to Hillary Clinton as his ”˜sister-in-law.”’
Cooke also points out that Jeb Bush, as chair of the National Constitution Center, recently honored big-government Hillary with a “Liberty Medal” for her lifelong career in public service. Reciprocally, Clinton praises Bush as a person “who really focused on education during his time as governor in Florida, and who has continued that work with passion and dedication in the years since.”
So what?
The National Review’s Jim Geraghty explains the problem. “We do not like Hillary Clinton. We do not like her philosophies, her decisions, or the weapons-grade pabulum that she stuffs in her books and offers for six figures per speech … her record in public life ”“ and that of her allies, and her party ”“ has been an absolute disaster for the country for the past six years, and the 2016 Republican nominee needs to be able to make that case and win that argument …”
We doubt that’s going to be anybody named “Bush.” Particularly not one who applauds the liberal Clinton’s fictional commitment to “Liberty.” There are a number of better options for the GOP.
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