Jeb Bush took his campaign out for a test drive Wednesday with his first big speech delivered at the Detroit Economic Club. Depending on whom you read, he either touted his “conservative credentials” (
Bloomberg) or cast himself as “reform conservative” (
National Journal).
In truth he did a little bit of both—touching on both present-day themes of economic populism and conservative tenets like reducing bloated government. But he is clearly charting a course to the nomination with an eye on the general election. In fact, he skipped talking to Iowa's Evangelical faithful to deliver his first campaign message in Detroit, an urban center populated with voters who are normally the bread and butter of Democrats.
“I know some in the media think conservatives don’t care about the cities,” said Mr. Bush. “But they are wrong. We believe that every American in every community has the right to pursue happiness.”
In a nod to the economic dilemma of the day—wage stagnation—he talked of restoring the American dream.
So the central question we face here in Detroit and across America is this: Can we restore that dream—that moral promise—that each generation can do better?"
But his vision for restoring that promise rests on the bedrock conservative principle of smaller government.
Look, no tax, no welfare program will save our system or our way of life.
Biggest takeaway from the speech and the media coverage that followed: Jeb Bush is a staunch conservative who’s going to campaign like a moderate.
As Republican strategist John Feehery noted on MSNBC, Jeb’s father was secretly a GOP moderate who ran as a conservative. This will be the exact opposite.
Head below the fold for Bush's notable quotes, policy prescriptions, and immediate trouble spots.
Notable quotes
"Let's embrace reform everywhere, especially in our government," he said. "Let's start with the simple principle of who holds the power. I say give Washington less and give states and local governments more."
"Let's go where our ideas can matter most," he said. "Where the failures of liberal government are most obvious. Let's deliver real conservative success. And you know what will happen? We'll create a whole lot of new conservatives."
“The opportunity gap is the defining issue of our time,” he said. “More Americans are stuck at their income levels than ever before. It’s very hard for people to go from the bottom rungs of the economy to the top or even the middle. This should alarm you. It has alarmed me.”
Actual Policy Prescriptions
Zero. I’m not kidding.
Immediate Trouble spots
"Social scientists across the ideological spectrum agree on this: If you want to predict whether someone will graduate from school, go to college, and move forward in life, just find out one thing: Were they raised in a loving household by two parents? If you didn't, you can overcome it, but it's very hard. If you did, you have a built-in advantage in life," he said.
He did not specify the gender of those parents. If he keeps delivering that message, social conservatives will demand that he does specify genders at some point and his answer will either alienate them or it will alienate millennials and every other pro-LGBT voter across the nation.
"The progressive and liberal mindset believes that to every problem, there is a Washington D.C. solution. But that instinct doesn’t solve any problem—other than the problem of how to keep Washington's regional economy well lubricated."
Actually, some Washington-based solutions did solve problems in the last several years: 1. the government takeover of GM and Chrysler; 2. the stimulus (albeit more slowly than we would have liked).
Bush has said repeatedly that he didn’t support the takeover of GM. Some enterprising journalist will soon ask him: 1) if he thinks that takeover was a success; 2) what he would have done if he had been president. That will be interesting since the takeover saved the American auto industry as we know it.