What Was Jeb Thinking?

[bobloblaw]

I want to know the thought process of someone who wants to win the GOP nomination and presidency who:

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"
2. Supports common core
3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)
4. Has the last name Bush

I am serious I want to know the logic that goes in one's mind leads one to believe they can win based on the above.

[Free Bird]

It's the family business

[Mr. Reactionary]

My name is Bush.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I want to know the thought process of someone who wants to win the GOP nomination and presidency who:

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"
2. Supports common core
3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)
4. Has the last name Bush

I am serious I want to know the logic that goes in one's mind leads one to believe they can win based on the above.

I suspect that he was thinking something such as, "What a bunch of retarded, useless clowns. I can win the nomination easily!" He was half-right, but failed to realize how much the party's vocal base had shifted in the directions of "hate" and "stupid".

[dudeabides]

Bush assumed that most Republicans would ignore the extremists on illegal immigration, would not obsess over Common Core like the old tea partiers with no kids in public schools, would want someone who could win a general election, and would be okay nominating a family who has given so much to public service to challenge someone of another "dynasty" who is a political hack and total opportunist.

Luckily, many Republicans are starting to see the light regarding Trump, but Marco Rubio is the one who is benefiting, not Bush. The Republicans I know, the ones who are well educated on politics, didn't like Trump from the start, but most have supported Rubio or Kasich, not Bush.

[bobloblaw]

I want to know the thought process of someone who wants to win the GOP nomination and presidency who:

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"
2. Supports common core
3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)
4. Has the last name Bush

I am serious I want to know the logic that goes in one's mind leads one to believe they can win based on the above.

I suspect that he was thinking something such as, "What a bunch of retarded, useless clowns. I can win the nomination easily!" He was half-right, but failed to realize how much the party's vocal base had shifted in the directions of "hate" and "stupid".

because "hate" is when you think illegal immigration is ILLEGAL versus an act of love.

[Taco Truck 🚚]

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"

I don't know... probably the same thing his brother was thinking that won him the White House.  Check out the percentage of the Hispanic vote McCain and Romney picked up compared to W Bush.

2. Supports common core

Maybe he actually has self respect and doesn't want to be a flip flopper.  Also the Republican big business establishment is appalled with the product coming out of schools.  Remember common core was designed by governors in conjuction with the private sector.  It wasn't something cooked up in Washington.  Bush is just trying to be consistent.  Bush and his kind asked for common core.  They designed it.   They championed it.  It's actually the Republicans who are running away from it now who should be asked what they are thinking.

3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)

You think Etch-a-Sketch is a better strategy?  How did that work out?

[dudeabides]

I want to know the thought process of someone who wants to win the GOP nomination and presidency who:

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"
2. Supports common core
3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)
4. Has the last name Bush

I am serious I want to know the logic that goes in one's mind leads one to believe they can win based on the above.

I suspect that he was thinking something such as, "What a bunch of retarded, useless clowns. I can win the nomination easily!" He was half-right, but failed to realize how much the party's vocal base had shifted in the directions of "hate" and "stupid".

because "hate" is when you think illegal immigration is ILLEGAL versus an act of love.

I am not a believer that we should reward illegal behavior. But in many cases, perhaps in most, those who come here illegally do so as an act of love to ensure their children have better lives than they have. Bush was not advocating for a specific policy based on the fact that in his view, which is also my view, people who come here illegally do so out of an act of love. Yet the tea party crazies, the people who don't read, believed he was advocating for amnesty. I support a pathway to legal status because we need to balance out humanitarian interests, the rule of law, and the fiscal realities of our time. Deporting people to live amongst gangs and spending $140 billion doing so is not right, though neither is giving automatic forgiveness to people who break our laws. The pathway to legal status is the middle road here.

[dudeabides]

I want to know the thought process of someone who wants to win the GOP nomination and presidency who:

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"
2. Supports common core
3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)
4. Has the last name Bush

I am serious I want to know the logic that goes in one's mind leads one to believe they can win based on the above.

I suspect that he was thinking something such as, "What a bunch of retarded, useless clowns. I can win the nomination easily!" He was half-right, but failed to realize how much the party's vocal base had shifted in the directions of "hate" and "stupid".

because "hate" is when you think illegal immigration is ILLEGAL versus an act of love.

I am not a believer that we should reward illegal behavior. But in many cases, perhaps in most, those who come here illegally do so as an act of love to ensure their children have better lives than they have. Bush was not advocating for a specific policy based on the fact that in his view, which is also my view, people who come here illegally do so out of an act of love. Yet the tea party crazies, the people who don't read, believed he was advocating for amnesty. I support a pathway to legal status because we need to balance out humanitarian interests, the rule of law, and the fiscal realities of our time. Deporting people to live amongst gangs and spending $140 billion doing so is not right, though neither is giving automatic forgiveness to people who break our laws. The pathway to legal status is the middle road here.

They bring their gangs here with them. They already live amongst them.

Some do, and they should be jailed or deported. But I'm talking about the folks who bring their families here and work on farms or landscaping, those are the ones who do so because of their love for their family.

[Likely Voter]

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These are things he truly believes and neither would be controversial in the 90s or early 00s when he was in office. This is part of who he is and he wasn't planning on running for president when he took these positions.

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One has to remember that Bush was Plan B for the establishment after the fall of Christie. This position was part of Bush's bargain. He didn't really want to run in the first place and if he did he was saying he wasn't willing to do a Romney and pretend to be a 'severe Conservative' and pander.

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Again part of the reason he wasn't seriously considering running before 2014 was he was self-aware enough to know that his brother had screwed up the family name and he missed his chance.

So to answer the question 'what was he thinking?' Bush was thinking he didn't want any part of this, but was talked into it. He then though the old rules applied like with his brother and a shock and awe fundraising apparatus and some establishment endorsements would act as a domino effect and the party would eventually coalesce around him.

[Mehmentum]

He bought into the RNC's post 2012 'autopsy report', particularly with regards to immigration.  He thought that by being the candidate that the RNC believed could win the general election, he could amass establishment support and cruise to victory.

His strategy had a few big flaws:

1.) Establishment support isn't what it used to be.  He may have been the establishment frontrunner for a while, but being the face of the establishment wasn't a good play in the current environment.

2.) His campaign has also floundered from a more technical standpoint.  He's been awkward and gaffed a lot on the campaign trail, his debate performances have been lackluster, he's let himself be used as a punching bag by Trump.  Despite the current mood of the electorate, if Bush had run a good campaign, he would be in a much more viable position.

3.) I suspect that Bush may have made the same mistake as Walker and spent too much too early.  He probably believed that the money would keep pouring in.  Now that the flow has ebbed, Bush is in a very unsustainable situation.  Its even possible that his campaign has a time limit due to money problems.

[bobloblaw]

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"

I don't know... probably the same thing his brother was thinking that won him the White House.  Check out the percentage of the Hispanic vote McCain and Romney picked up compared to W Bush.

2. Supports common core

Maybe he actually has self respect and doesn't want to be a flip flopper.  Also the Republican big business establishment is appalled with the product coming out of schools.  Remember common core was designed by governors in conjuction with the private sector.  It wasn't something cooked up in Washington.  Bush is just trying to be consistent.  Bush and his kind asked for common core.  They designed it.   They championed it.  It's actually the Republicans who are running away from it now who should be asked what they are thinking.

3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)

You think Etch-a-Sketch is a better strategy?  How did that work out?

Big business wants a lot of things that are bad for the country

[Taco Truck 🚚]

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"

I don't know... probably the same thing his brother was thinking that won him the White House.  Check out the percentage of the Hispanic vote McCain and Romney picked up compared to W Bush.

2. Supports common core

Maybe he actually has self respect and doesn't want to be a flip flopper.  Also the Republican big business establishment is appalled with the product coming out of schools.  Remember common core was designed by governors in conjuction with the private sector.  It wasn't something cooked up in Washington.  Bush is just trying to be consistent.  Bush and his kind asked for common core.  They designed it.   They championed it.  It's actually the Republicans who are running away from it now who should be asked what they are thinking.

3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)

You think Etch-a-Sketch is a better strategy?  How did that work out?

Big business wants a lot of things that are bad for the country

Yeah, and people tend not to bite the hand that feeds them.  You don't become the early front runner with the largest super PAC in the Republican party without getting in bed with big business.

[dudeabides]

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"

I don't know... probably the same thing his brother was thinking that won him the White House.  Check out the percentage of the Hispanic vote McCain and Romney picked up compared to W Bush.

2. Supports common core

Maybe he actually has self respect and doesn't want to be a flip flopper.  Also the Republican big business establishment is appalled with the product coming out of schools.  Remember common core was designed by governors in conjuction with the private sector.  It wasn't something cooked up in Washington.  Bush is just trying to be consistent.  Bush and his kind asked for common core.  They designed it.   They championed it.  It's actually the Republicans who are running away from it now who should be asked what they are thinking.

3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)

You think Etch-a-Sketch is a better strategy?  How did that work out?

Big business wants a lot of things that are bad for the country

What business wants:

1. Tax cuts - Look at the 1920s and 1980s, tax cuts stimulate economic growth!
2. Less regulations - Reagan and Clinton deregulated, the economy grew
3. Free trade - proven to create high paying jobs
4. Bi-partisian immigration reform - good for the economy
5. Repeal Obamacare

Yeah real "bad" for the country.

[Maxwell]

George Pataki would be doing a lot better than Jeb Bush if he had Jeb Bush money.

[Thomas D]

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"

I don't know... probably the same thing his brother was thinking that won him the White House.  Check out the percentage of the Hispanic vote McCain and Romney picked up compared to W Bush.

2. Supports common core

Maybe he actually has self respect and doesn't want to be a flip flopper.  Also the Republican big business establishment is appalled with the product coming out of schools.  Remember common core was designed by governors in conjuction with the private sector.  It wasn't something cooked up in Washington.  Bush is just trying to be consistent.  Bush and his kind asked for common core.  They designed it.   They championed it.  It's actually the Republicans who are running away from it now who should be asked what they are thinking.

3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)

You think Etch-a-Sketch is a better strategy?  How did that work out?

Big business wants a lot of things that are bad for the country

What business wants:

1. Tax cuts - Look at the 1920s and 1980s, tax cuts stimulate economic growth!
2. Less regulations - Reagan and Clinton deregulated, the economy grew
3. Free trade - proven to create high paying jobs
4. Bi-partisian immigration reform - good for the economy
5. Repeal Obamacare

Yeah real "bad" for the country.

Yeah! Look at the 1920's!......Well not the last 3 months.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I want to know the thought process of someone who wants to win the GOP nomination and presidency who:

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"
2. Supports common core
3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)
4. Has the last name Bush

I am serious I want to know the logic that goes in one's mind leads one to believe they can win based on the above.

Thinking a pragmatic and policy-focused campaign will win the GOP primary... first mistake.

[Maxwell]

Tax cuts stimulate economic growth, that is basic economics. However, it stimulates growth for those whose taxes are cut - and that has not been centered on anyone but the wealthy for a long long time, which explains wage growth for the wealthy at the expense of stagnation for the middle class.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Tax cuts stimulate economic growth, that is basic economics. However, it stimulates growth for those whose taxes are cut - and that has not been centered on anyone but the wealthy for a long long time, which explains wage growth for the wealthy at the expense of stagnation for the middle class.

Tax cuts stimulate growth only up to a point, you have diminishing returns the lower the overall rates go.

[Maxwell]

Tax cuts stimulate economic growth, that is basic economics. However, it stimulates growth for those whose taxes are cut - and that has not been centered on anyone but the wealthy for a long long time, which explains wage growth for the wealthy at the expense of stagnation for the middle class.

Tax cuts stimulate growth only up to a point, you have diminishing returns the lower the overall rates go.

This is also correct.

[bobloblaw]

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"

I don't know... probably the same thing his brother was thinking that won him the White House.  Check out the percentage of the Hispanic vote McCain and Romney picked up compared to W Bush.

2. Supports common core

Maybe he actually has self respect and doesn't want to be a flip flopper.  Also the Republican big business establishment is appalled with the product coming out of schools.  Remember common core was designed by governors in conjuction with the private sector.  It wasn't something cooked up in Washington.  Bush is just trying to be consistent.  Bush and his kind asked for common core.  They designed it.   They championed it.  It's actually the Republicans who are running away from it now who should be asked what they are thinking.

3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)

You think Etch-a-Sketch is a better strategy?  How did that work out?

Big business wants a lot of things that are bad for the country

What business wants:

1. Tax cuts - Look at the 1920s and 1980s, tax cuts stimulate economic growth!
2. Less regulations - Reagan and Clinton deregulated, the economy grew
3. Free trade - proven to create high paying jobs
4. Bi-partisian immigration reform - good for the economy
5. Repeal Obamacare

Yeah real "bad" for the country.

The 1960s as well. The economy really shifted into high gear in 1964. In the 1990s Clinton cut the capital gains tax in 1997 and growth accelerated.

[mencken]

Tax cuts stimulate economic growth, that is basic economics. However, it stimulates growth for those whose taxes are cut - and that has not been centered on anyone but the wealthy for a long long time, which explains wage growth for the wealthy at the expense of stagnation for the middle class.

Generally one actually needs to be a net taxpayer in order to receive a tax cut. Given that the wealthy pay the overwhelming majority of the federal tax burden, it would be difficult to conceive of a substantive tax cut that did not disproportionately benefit the wealthy.

If you want a scapegoat for the stagnation of the middle class, you ought to target artificial credit expansion, which eats into the purchasing power of a middle class paycheck while elevating the value of investments (where the "wealthy" have most of their money)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

He bought into the RNC's post 2012 'autopsy report', particularly with regards to immigration.  He thought that by being the candidate that the RNC believed could win the general election, he could amass establishment support and cruise to victory.

His strategy had a few big flaws:

1.) Establishment support isn't what it used to be.  He may have been the establishment frontrunner for a while, but being the face of the establishment wasn't a good play in the current environment.

2.) His campaign has also floundered from a more technical standpoint.  He's been awkward and gaffed a lot on the campaign trail, his debate performances have been lackluster, he's let himself be used as a punching bag by Trump.  Despite the current mood of the electorate, if Bush had run a good campaign, he would be in a much more viable position.

3.) I suspect that Bush may have made the same mistake as Walker and spent too much too early.  He probably believed that the money would keep pouring in.  Now that the flow has ebbed, Bush is in a very unsustainable situation.  Its even possible that his campaign has a time limit due to money problems.

This is a pretty good analysis. His money is running out, his execution has been poor, the establishment cred hasn't helped as much as he'd like, and now he has to deal with Rubio. I'd guess he's now on a hard time limit of "before Xmas", but I think there's still a path to victory.

With Carson in the early stages of collapse Bush is going to need to be the leading old-guard candidate before the holidays, being in at least the #2 spot overall or close to it, or I expect he'll pack it in. And to do that, I think he needs to take down Rubio.

I don't know if Jeb is actually capable of it, but it shouldn't be that hard. Mention Rubio's inexperience and personal finance questions, then point out the leadership experience of the governors and corporate executives on the stage. Say that Rubio is a good guy, but isn't ready to be President, and then wrap up by saying "America can't afford to have another first-term Senator learning on the job". (Or something like that.)

Blow Rubio out of the race, then get Kasich (maybe Christie?) to endorse him. Follow it up with the narrative that "Thank God Jeb is here to save us from the likes of Trump and Carson" (without alienating their supporters too much) and then it turns into a three-way race between Trump, Bush, and whoever picks up the social conservative mantle (probably Cruz). It's still far from in the bag at that point, but eminently winnable. But Bush needs Rubio out, and he'd be best off doing it himself at the next debate. But I have no idea if he can pull it off.

[kansasdemocrat]

Bumbling fools don't think...

[Extrabase500]

I want to know the thought process of someone who wants to win the GOP nomination and presidency who:

1. Calls illegal immigration an "act of love"
2. Supports common core
3. Says he is willing to lose the primary to win the general (this never made sense)
4. Has the last name Bush

I am serious I want to know the logic that goes in one's mind leads one to believe they can win based on the above.

Agreed Jeb is totally disgusting. Watch the establishment turn on him for Rubio a fresher face to sell their agenda.