Editorial: Phew, there wasn’t a red wave. But it’s too soon to exhale
When we reported that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was considering a run for the White House, the response was a little surprising.
A couple of us suggested that the idea lacked a clear vision and a coherent path to victory. We were also a little surprised at the fact that it seemed such an obscure political idea on the heels of Donald Trump’s strong performance in the Republican primaries. And then we started thinking, “What is Jeb Bush?”
What we didn’t know was that Jeb Bush, who is known for being a policy wonk, actually worked for the White House.
The former governor worked in the George W. Bush administration as an economist and policy advisor. He served in the cabinet as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. And Bush did his time in the Bush administration with the same title he has now.
He is also an author. And that book, “The Way Things Ought to Be: Five Rules for Getting the Right People to Do the Right Things” is getting a lot of positive attention these days. But the first rule for being a president is making sure you’re a leader first, and an author second.
It is true that Bush is in an excellent position to win a Republican primary in the 2020 presidential election cycle. He has the right message, the right biography and the right name recognition. And as a conservative, he is also free of the baggage that goes with being a president who supports abortion (that was a point we raised), or supports gay rights (that was a point that some of us raised), so he is not subject to the same type of political blowback from the far right — especially as he focuses on the economy, the budget deficit and his tax plan that would reduce income taxes for the middle class and a wealthy class.
Jeb Bush is the perfect choice for president. And if he has that opportunity, I want to hear what he would say.
To start, Jeb Bush is not a typical Republican. He did not become a conservative as a youngster; he was one of the �