Let's get one thing straight from the jump; no matter how his conservative compadres try to label him, Jeb Bush is no liberal, nor a RINO (Republican in Name Only). Bush's response to President Barack Obama's recent historic initiative regarding Cuba – calling it a "foreign policy misstep" and a "dramatic overreach" -- puts him squarely inside the conservative bubble regarding relations with Cuba, which basically translates to "stay the course." On most issues, despite what folks at the Heritage Foundation and The Patriot Post are currently saying about him, Bush's conservative credentials are unimpeachable.
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Against his mother's better judgment, Bush appears to be laying the groundwork for a presidential run by announcing that he will establish a leadership PAC early next year. In a Facebook post, Bush wrote: "As a result of ... [family] conversations and thoughtful consideration of the kind of strong leadership I think America needs," he wrote, "I have decided to actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States." Thus the plan to set up a political action committee to "facilitate conversations with citizens across America."
The early announcement likely has several purposes: 1) convince the big-time billionaire Republican Party financial backers to hold off on writing checks to any of the as-of-yet undeclared so-called center-right candidacies including Chris Christie, Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney; and, 2) serve as a preemptive strike against the Party's right-wing as Bush understands that his announcement would incur the wrath of that sector of the GOP -- thus, to the general public, he begins to look like a sane alternative to the likes of Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum.
It didn't take long for the wrath to start flowing.
The politically powerful Heritage Foundation posted two stories in its online publication, The Daily Signal. Genevieve Wood, a senior contributor the publication, wrote "Why Jeb Bush No Longer Inspires Conservatives," and Kerry Harkness checked in with "Jeb Bush's Common Core Problem."
According to Wood, In addition to being on the wrong side of Common Core, "his comments related to immigration reform are troubling — from calling on the GOP to pass 'comprehensive' immigration reform legislation, which included amnesty, to criticizing those Americans opposed to amnesty, saying 'it shouldn't rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families.'"
Kerry Harkness wrote that the issue of Common Core's national standards "threatens to overshadow his likely campaign."
The piece quotes Frederick M. Hess, an education expert at the American Enterprise Institute, who "predicted that if he decided to run for president, 'Common Core could be his Romneycare.'"
Harkness pointed out that:
Common Core standards were created by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers, and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The goal, supported by the Obama administration, was to increase education standards in America. Among conservatives, however, the issue one of the most controversial.
A piece posted at
The Patriot Post, is titled 'We've Had Enough Bushes,' and is a little more caustic, as it challenges Bush's conservative credentials on a number of fronts, and gets personal; criticizing his family's having taken a liking to Bill Clinton, one of conservatives most hated figures, that is until Barack Obama's arrived on the political scene.
The headline of the piece is a snippet taken from an interview with Barbara Bush, who, when asked a few years ago about Jeb running for the presidency, said: "I think it's a great country, there are a lot of great families, and it's not just four families or whatever. There are other people out there that are very qualified, and we've had enough Bushes."
According to The Patriot Post, Jeb Bush is not:
a genuine conservative, though he was a successful and popular governor in Florida, cutting taxes several times and pushing school choice. Yet many would argue he cedes any claim to the moniker 'conservative' because he supports a 'path to citizenship' for illegal aliens, as well as Barack Obama's Common Core curriculum that will have the next generation capable only of communicating through Instagram.
In addition, the Bush family has become too darn cozy with the Clintons and that "is bothersome." "While Bill Clinton is infamously known to conservatives as 'Slick Willy,' Jeb and his brothers refer to Bill as a 'brother by another mother' and to Hillary as a sister-in-law. A Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Clinton race would be little more than a family reunion."
Another criticism is that Sally Bradshaw and Mike Murphy, "will likely serve again in his campaign." "Bradshaw served as Mitt Romney's senior adviser in his 2008 presidential bid, advised him during his 1998 gubernatorial campaign, and advised John McCain on his presidential bids. Murphy has also advised such nationally prominent Republicans as John McCain, Christie Whitman, Lamar Alexander, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not a conservative in the bunch."
Clearly, a significant philosophical difference divides the Republican Party. The leadership, the elites and the donor class want the party to 'modernize.' They argue that as national demographics change, the 'outworn thinking' – especially what they consider the radical Christian element – will ultimately marginalize the party for most segments of society.
Republican elite also fear Tea Party-esque Republican 'radicals' will cause another Barry Goldwater-like landslide loss. They point to Baby Boomers who will demand more benefits as they age, and to millennials who gave Obama 66% of their votes in 2008 and 60% in 2012, making them the most government-friendly generation since FDR.
Jeb Bush is just the kind of candidate these elites want – one who can keep a Republican Congress in check, keep Obamacare with some reforms, grant amnesty (an essentially open-borders policy that warms their hearts and protects their wallets with cheap labor), and generally acquiesce to the Left's social agenda.
But grassroots conservatives are furious with the Republican establishment. During the Bush years, voters gave Republicans control of Congress and the presidency for more time than in any period in nearly a century. In return, Republicans gave us grossly inflated spending, a new entitlement (Medicare Part D) and a new federal behemoth bureaucracy (DHS).
What is interesting about all this caterwauling from the right about Jeb Bush is that on most issues, he is as conservative as it gets. "He was really reactionary on education, criminal justice, taxes, and privatization, but he is regarded as a moderate because he speaks Spanish and has a Mexican wife, and supports more effective immigration laws," Susan Greenbaum, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, University of South Florida and the author of the forthcoming book
Blaming the Poor: The Long Shadow of the Moynihan Report on Cruel Images about Poverty, told me in an email exchange. In reality, says Greenbaum, "he is clearly no moderate."