Jeb Bush... Becoming the voice of moderate Republicans?

[Purch]

Jeb Bush does not want to be vice president. That's what he says when he's asked directly, but he really proves it when he's talking about everything else. On issues from budget policy to leadership style to immigration, Bush, one of the most popular national Republicans, is a man out of step with his party. This does not mean he likes President Obama. He wants him out of office. He'd shove him if he could, for his repeated attacks on his brother if nothing else. But after listening to the two-term Florida governor talk to a group of reporters at a breakfast hosted by Bloomberg View on Monday morning, it's not clear how Bush could ever be the nominee of a party he says would no longer support his father or Ronald Reagan.

It's not just that Bush's policy prescriptions on topics like immigration and tackling the deficit are a challenge to party orthodoxy. He also describes a more pragmatic vision of leadership--where accomplishments are valued over ideological purity--that seems deeply at odds with conservative calls for maximum constancy. This is perhaps the freedom enjoyed by those who are not running for president. But the formula Bush offers does reflect on the man who is running: Jeb Bush is describing a hole in American politics, and Mitt Romney is not necessarily the man to fill it.

"We're in decline which distinguishes us historically from where we've been," says Bush, who sees the economy shuffling along with anemic growth for the next year, no matter who wins in November. His solutions for getting out of the rut are less policy-specific--he doesn't have a grand plan about Medicare vouchers or getting rid of the home mortgage interest deduction. He's more focused on the temperament of governing.

As a former governor, it's not surprising where he finds the best examples of leaders who are free of Washington orthodoxy and getting things done: "Just about any statehouse in the country." He singles out Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and Colorado Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper for their effectiveness. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also gets praise. Among his qualities: He knows how to "cut a deal." Bush is not making a pitch for moderation or watered-down conservative principles, but for conservatism that goes beyond a talking point.

"Ronald Reagan would have ... a hard time if you define the Republican Party--and I don't--as having an orthodoxy that doesn't allow for disagreement, doesn't allow for finding some common ground," Bush said, adding that he views the partisan sclerosis as "temporary."

"Back to my dad's time and Ronald Reagan's time--they got a lot of stuff done with a lot of bipartisan support," he said. Today Reagan "would be criticized for doing the things that he did."

If Bush is critical of his party, he is contemptuous of the Democrats. While he's vague about the GOP, he drills down to specifics about Democrats. In every detail, you can hear how they eat at him--from the Democratic members of the House budget committee "who just read what some 20- or 25-year-old has handed them" to the Senate's inability to come up with a budget.

President Obama's big failing, says Bush, was his refusal to embrace the Simpson-Bowles commission he set up to find a way to reduce budget deficits. It was a failure of leadership, says Bush, who argues that had the president fought for the plan and lost, he would not have suffered politically. "Presidents matter, and this president lost his chance to be a transcendent figure." Leadership, he argues, would have been the president's own political reward. "Had he tried with sincerity and tried hard, he could make a compelling case 'Conservatives are against me, they're not for advancing the broader interests of this country.' "

This is a common complaint about Obama's leadership, and it doesn't seem to take into account that Obama showed just that kind of leadership pushing for health care reform.

Asked to offer a bold example of presidential leadership, Bush pointed to his father's 1990 budget deal. It was undeniably an act of political bravery; the elder Bush betrayed his conservative base in order to reach a deal to reduce the deficit. "It created the spending restraint of the '90s more than anything else that was helpful in creating a climate of more sustained economic growth."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57451288-503544/is-there-any-place-for-jeb-bush-in-the-gop/

[NHI]

Amen.

[Emperor SJoyce]

Jeb Bush has not become the voice of moderate Republicans, he has become the voice of Republicans now regarded as moderate.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

For Jeb Bush to be considered a "moderate" is simply beyond defensible.

[a Person]

"moderate" =/= "not insane"

[Jbrase]

You all act as if what makes someone a moderate are set in stone. From the perspective of those of the left I am sure he looks nothing like a moderate but when placed in comparison to the growing right wing of the party he is a tad bit more moderate. I wouldn't call him a centrist but he is center-right by today's standards.

[Ghyl Tarvoke]

Your country is completely f***ed up, you know that, right?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Your country is completely f***ed up, you know that, right?

So why not rub it in.

[bore]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY&feature=related

[Zyzz]

Republicans have moved so far to the radical right that Oswald Mosley looks socialist in comparison.

[crypto-fascist superhero]

Republicans have moved so far to the radical right that Oswald Mosley looks socialist in comparison.

Given that Oswald Mosley resigned from the Labour Party for its being insufficiently socialist, that isn't difficult.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Your country is completely f***ed up, you know that, right?

I'm reminded every day.

[hopper]

Jeb Bush is was rated as a "moderate conservative" by on the issues.org so he is a medium conservative. Is he Olympia Snowe moderate? No.

Maybe Jeb can take the party back from the religious right. He is friendly with the Hispanic Community and he is married to a latina so those types of things are assets.

He was my pick for being Romney's VP but I don't think that will happen.

[Comrade Shmoo]

If the GOP continues down this path, the Democratic cry in 20 years will be "Paul Ryan couldn't survive in today's GOP!" as the House blocks legislation to create a police department.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

If the GOP continues down this path, the Democratic cry in 20 years will be "Paul Ryan couldn't survive in today's GOP!" as the House blocks legislation to create a police department.

At the rate they're going, the GOP isn't going to last past the end of this year. I'm being 100% serious.

[Kevin]

If the GOP continues down this path, the Democratic cry in 20 years will be "Paul Ryan couldn't survive in today's GOP!" as the House blocks legislation to create a police department.

Why does the House need it's own police department? Capitol Hill police are responsible for enforcing the law in and around the House buildings.

Simply creating another one would be redundant and a waste of money.

[Joe Republic]

If the GOP continues down this path, the Democratic cry in 20 years will be "Paul Ryan couldn't survive in today's GOP!" as the House blocks legislation to create a police department.

Why does the House need it's own police department? Capitol Hill police are responsible for enforcing the law in and around the House buildings.

Simply creating another one would be redundant and a waste of money.

...  Try reading his post again.

[Governor Maxwell]

When will the republican party learn? Viewing things in terms of a Bush doesn't get you ANYWHERE except downward.

[opebo]

If the GOP continues down this path, the Democratic cry in 20 years will be "Paul Ryan couldn't survive in today's GOP!" as the House blocks legislation to create a police department.

At the rate they're going, the GOP isn't going to last past the end of this year. I'm being 100% serious.

Wishful thinking, Bandit.  It is a coin-toss whether they'll control the Presidency in a few months more, and they'll quite likely control the legislature and the courts.  Jeb is out.

[afleitch]

He's positioning himself for 2016. Voters are moving in the opposite direction from the GOP. The bigger the drift the heavier the defeat.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Just because you aren't quite as crazy as some other Republicans does not make you a moderate. As for the actual moderate Republicans, they stopped being Republicans a while ago. See Weicker, Chafee, Jeffords, Bloomberg, and the like. The liberal Republicans left a while before then. Javitts, LaGuardia, Follette, and so on.

[Senator Kalwejt]

I'll be amused when Christine O'Donnell will be considered too moderate for the modern GOP.

[hopper]

I'll be amused when Christine O'Donnell will be considered too moderate for the modern GOP.

What has Christine O' D Donnell ever done? She has lost 2 Senate Races. She had never been in local government. Even her work history is shady. I don't even get how she is even worth a post on this particular thread. I know my post is harsh but it had to be said.

[hopper]

[quote author=mah519 link=topic=154811.msg3325529#msg3325529 date=1339571982
When will the republican party learn? Viewing things in terms of a Bush doesn't get you ANYWHERE except downward.
[/quote]Jeb is his own guy he is not W. or H.W.

[hopper]

He's positioning himself for 2016. Voters are moving in the opposite direction from the GOP. The bigger the drift the heavier the defeat.

Voters aren't happy with the Dems either. Just witness the wild swings of 2006, 2008 vs 2010 elections. Maybe as the country becomes more ethnically diverse though(the growing latino population) the swings won't be as bad because minorities tend to like the Dems policies.