Seriously, Jeb! What a question, coming from a bush...
Republican Convention, 1988:
"...And The Congress will push me to raise taxes and I'll say no. And they'll push, and I'll say no, and they'll push again, and all I can say to them is 'Read my lips: No new taxes.'"
-George H. W. Bush, 1988
A decade later:
Pastor Mark Craig started preaching about duty, about how Moses tried to resist God's call, and the sacrifice that leadership requires. And as they sat there, Barbara Bush leaned over to the son who has always been most like her and said, "He's talking to you, George."
"I never dreamt about being president... It hasn't been part of my life's game plan. All of a sudden, people start talking to me about the presidency..."
-George W. Bush, 1999
Five years later, November 2004: George ii is preparing for his second term as president. And little brother "Jeb!" dreams only of retirement for himself...
Bush reiterated that he was not going to run for the US Senate in 2006, had no designs on the 2008 presidential race and was getting tired of the question.
Asked whether he might change his mind, the exasperated governor responded, "No! Why am I not believable on this subject? This is driving me nuts."
"I'm not running for the United States Senate in 2006, and I'm not running for president in 2008."
-Jeb Bush, 2004
Fast forward to August 2005:
Seventeen months before he leaves office, Jeb Bush and some of his most loyal supporters are preparing a public relations offensive to promote the governor's record on reforming Florida's education system.
Bush allies last month quietly incorporated the Foundation for Florida's Future, a nonprofit group that will concentrate on touting Bush's record on schools. It's a relaunch of a public policy foundation that preceded his 1998 gubernatorial campaign, but this time is organized to be a potentially potent political advocacy group.
It is structured not just as a nonprofit organization, but as a so-called "527" organization that can raise unlimited donations to tout positions or attack a candidate or idea.
Mandy Fletcher, a former Bush-Cheney presidential campaign staffer, is the part-time executive director of the new foundation. She acknowledged that given the speculation about Gov. Bush's presidential aspirations, some people would see the foundation formally re-created in July as a vehicle to keep his profile high after leaving office.
"The governor was saying the other day it wouldn't be called the Foundation for Florida's Future if this was some sort of 'exploratory thing' for national office," she said.
-"Bush's allies promote legacy," St. Petersburg Times Online
Well, that settles it then... 'cause you can always trust a Bush.
*****
Now here's something I can believe:
It's not whether you win or lose, it's whether you're a bush...
"You know, it doesn't matter. If he wins, it'll be great. If he doesn't, we still have a life."
-Laura Bush, June 1999
"I think the people want the president to be in a position to make good, crisp decisions and to stay healthy,'' he (the president) said when asked about bike riding while a grieving mom (Cindy Sheehan) wanted to speak with him.
"And part of my being is to be outside exercising. So I'm mindful of what goes on around me. On the other hand, I'm also mindful that I've got a life to live and will do so.''
-George W. Bush, August 2005
Now watch me while I flip this bike.
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4 comments:
There's still hope -- if we can stop the bush virus before it mutates again. :-)
I'm surprised I don't hear nasty put-downs about the "hand-me-down presidency". From what I understand (not being old enough at the time to know first hand myself) when JFK was still alive and Bobby was his Atty. Gen. (& obviously they had it in mind for him to run after Jack was done), there were such comments then.
Oh, and I don't trust anything about that nasty wingnut demagogic Gov. of yours beyond where I can kick him (which ain't very far at all)!
- oddjob
You're forgetting something REALLY important.
George W. Bush was not supposed to be president. The problem, was the Jeb could not take care of his end of the bargain.
Consider, in 1994, both Bushes challenges popular incumbent Democratic governors in their respective states. George won, beating Ann Richards. Jeb lost to Lawton Chiles because his campaign made (and later admitted to making) scare calls to seniors claiming Jeb would take away their social security.
So, if Jeb had won in 1994, he probably would have won re-election in 1998, and then would have been the Republican candidate for President in 2000. Would Jeb have beaten Al Gore? Probably. Clearly, Florida would not have been a problem that it was. The rest of the state probably would have voted the same way they did for W.
So, we can all blame Lawton Chiles' campaign for President George W. Bush.
Actually, I didn't forget 1994, since I briefly volunteered in Lawton's campaign.
But this post was about a select few of the volumes of misleading statements of the Bush family, and I don't recall Jeb! lying about losing the 1994 campaign -- unless you count excuses as lies. Some would say he lost because he had absolutely no experience that qualified him to lead the fourth largest state in the union. And some would say that without the Bush name he wouldn't even have won the Republican primaries, much less the general election. And some would say that he probably should have been living abroad with his corrupt business partner.
Not to worry, though. Jeb! made good use of his "time in the wilderness" after losing the '94 election to the "He coon." He and the Project for a New American Century group were busy laying the groundwork for the foreign policies later implemented by W. and the gang of chickenhawk neocons - and we can all be proud of how that succeeded so brilliantly, can't we?
Yep, Jeb!'s the man... and that's why I say the Same Old Party hacks will turn to him in a carpetbagger's minute if the "less pure" candidates like McCain, Giuliani and Romney falter in the early going.
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