He Said That? 10/28/14

From George P. Bush, son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush:

WASHINGTON
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is “moving forward” on a potential 2016 White House run and it appears more likely he will enter the Republican field, according to his son, who’s running for office in Texas.

George P. Bush told ABC’s “This Week” that his father is “still assessing” a presidential bid, but suggested it was more likely that he would seek the White House this time. The ex-governor declined to run for president in 2012 despite encouragement from Republicans.

“I think it’s more than likely that he’s giving this a serious thought and moving — and moving forward,” said the younger Bush, who is running for Texas land commissioner.

Asked if that meant it was “more than likely that he’ll run,” George P. Bush responded: “That he’ll run. If you had asked me a few years back … I would have said it was less likely.”

Jeb Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush and the son of former President George H.W. Bush, would stand out in what could be a crowded Republican field in 2016.

Bush has headlined fundraisers for Republican candidates and committees and helped campaigns for governor in Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada, three of the first four states to hold early presidential primaries.

Family considerations could play a factor in his decision.

In an interview with The Associated Press this month, Jeb Bush said his wife, Columba, is “supportive” of a potential presidential campaign and his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, was now “neutral, trending in a different direction.” Barbara Bush declared last year there had been “enough Bushes” in the White House.

“But that doesn’t mean that I don’t understand the challenges that this brings,” Jeb Bush told the AP. “This is ultimately my decision with as much consideration as I can to take into account the people that I really love.”

George P. Bush, in the interview aired Sunday, said his family would be “100 percent” behind his father if he decides to run.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article3386681.html

Your mother had it right last year, Jeb. Do us all a favor and spare yourself the heartburn—don’t run. There has indeed been “enough Bushes” in the White House. Daddy’s one-term presidency rounded out his résumé, but he raised taxes, presided over a recession, and plumbed new depths of asinine phraseology with: “A new world order,” and “A thousand points of light.” On brother George’s watch we got two useless—but bloody and costly—wars, a prescription drug benefit that added to our pile of unaffordable entitlements, the worse financial crisis since the Great Depression, and massive and unnecessary bailouts of crony banks and brokerages. If the last name Bush doesn’t doom your candidacy, your support for wildly unpopular Common Core and the Democratic Party’s recruitment drive known as immigration reform will—and that’s just in Republican primaries.