The Reason Jeb Looks So Miserable

[seafan]

Michael Tomasky over at The Daily Beast puts his finger on it:

Bush has a lot of problems, which have become excruciatingly evident this week as he’s managed to offend Latinos and Asians and women (again) while still making no apparent headway with the kinds of people you’re supposed to make headway with by offending the aforementioned. But when you get right down to it, this is his problem. The Donald pegged him. He is a “low-energy person.” He looks like he has only the barest minimum interest in doing this.

On some level, politics is all about the gene. John Ellis doesn’t have it. No zest. No happy warrior thing going on at all. Say what you will about Dubya, and trust me, I said most of it at one time or another. But he had the gene. He liked politics. He enjoyed campaigning. He pinned his shoulders back up on stage, stood erect, gazed upon the crowd with something you might call command. Remember that smirk? Oh God how liberals hated that smirk! I remember how people on my side used to carry on about it, how it betrayed exactly the kind of shoot-first cowboy braggadocio that liberals find repulsive—and indeed, that ended up fucking up a big part of the world to this day. So we were right about that smirk. But at least he was smiling. At least he was up there having fun.

But Jeb. Yeesh. What’s he doing out there? It’s just duty. And not family duty either. Remember, his mom said he shouldn’t do it. His wife seems cool on it. At best. So it’s not family. It’s mostly party duty. Duty to the money people. Class duty.

Watching him I sometimes wonder: How did this guy get to be a governor? One thing I’ve learned in my years of covering politics, one of the more surprising things, I would say, is just how many utter mediocrities become governors. This is understandable in a lot of those puny states out there where the competition ain’t so great. And where either one party or the other is clearly dominant. So if you’re a Republican state legislator in Wyoming and you have a little charisma, or a Democratic mayor of Providence who has successfully avoided indictment for eight years, well, you can get to be governor. The road is not laid with many traps.

Jeb Bush has called himself "a grinder"; "a joyful tortoise"; " a happy warrior"; "Veto Corleone"; and just plain "tortoise" (W's nickname for him); "the storm governor"; the "education governor"; a "head-banging conservative"; a "hang 'em by the neck conservative".....



How about "loser".

The Bush reign is coming to a hard end.

Now, get out of our way.

[riderinthestorm]

1. Happy to be rec #1. Well done!

More from the article...

So here’s how things seem to be shaping up, maybe. There’s going to be Trump. And then, after the rattle and hum of the first few contests, and the Perrys and Jindals and so forths have gone on their merry ways, there’s going to be one anointed non-Trump, whom the party’s panjandrums decide to get behind collectively in order to stop Trump. And that person is likely to be either Bush or Scott Walker or Marco Rubio or John Kasich. Or maybe someone else. (What’s that I hear you say? Mitt Romney? Not, at this point, an insane idea. Think about it.)

The non-Trump should easily and clearly have been Bush. And it still could be. I notice that still this week, even while Bush is getting slagged by everybody, the political futures market continues to rate him the favorite for the Republican nomination. So the wisdom of the crowd still says Bush, but we sense that it’s said in the same way that people might say “New England” or “Seattle” when asked who’ll win next year’s Super Bowl. The answer doesn’t reflect thought and analysis, just resigned reflex.

So he could still be the nominee, and by definition that means he could still be the next president. But as of now, he looks to have the makings of being one of the biggest flops in the history of presidential politics. A year ago all the experts thought otherwise, and sometimes the experts are right, but in this case, it’s looking like Mother knew best.

[seafan]

10. Thanks for posting more from that great piece. Tomasky knows the score.

Tomasky mentions the folly of Romney re-entering the race (after Jeb forced him out last winter, and stealing some of his donors and operatives from him...)

I have seen some whispering that Rupert Murdoch is trying to entice Michael Bloomberg to enter the primary race against Trump.... Bill Kristol is talking about "an October Surprise".

Such disarray!

[patricia92243]

23. Michael Bloomberg - that's interesting. Don't know anything about him. Will Google

and find out more.

Naturally, I will vote Democratic, but I hope the republicans run someone that is at least a little bit sane - just in case the very worst happens and we end up with a republican prez. I would like to think a president really is mentally healthy. I not only disagree with Trump, Cruz and that elk, but think they have serious - and dangerous - mental problems.

[LiberalElite]

34. Bloomberg was mayor of NYC

He was originally a Democrat and ran as a Republican. He also weakened our term limits law so he could run for a third term. (He won but not with my vote.) He's pretty sane but another billionaire.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I hope SO MUCH that you're right about the Bush reign! n/t

[NV Whino]

3. I've said from the beginning JEB wasn't interested in running

And it's becoming more and more evident. I think the party talked him into it simply because the rest of the field is so batshit crazy.

[Nay]

11. Yeah, me, too. He's been totally uninterested from the very beginning. nt

[Gidney N Cloyd]

25. For me it's been all the shoulder shrugging giving away his disinterest.

It's not 'aw shucks' shrugging, it's 'I guess, whatever' shrugging.

[betsuni]

4. I've always thought it was because he was dieting.

I assumed he was and just searched and found an article about how he's on a Paleo diet and always hungry. No wonder he's cranky.

[appalachiablue]

36. JEB's recent weight loss is very noticeable, esp. compared to photos

of him a couple years ago and I hardly know or follow the goon. His FACE and BODY are quite reduced. Maybe the regime he's on affects his energy level, esp. the Paleo diet you mention. Plenty of folks are diagnosed with pre diabetes around his age, and then start losing weight and exercising to try to stave off the full condition. Whatever the case, JEB's a dud.

[betsuni]

40. How the food smells at State Fairs must torment him!

His Achilles heel is his mouth. Somebody should be following him around with fragrant pepperoni pizzas, cinnamon buns fresh from the oven, bacon cheeseburgers and onion rings. Food or the presidency? Which do you desire more, Jeb?

[appalachiablue]

41. Sounds delish! This is what Bill Maher said about Christie and his stomach

procedure a couple years ago. How could he run for Pres. when all he'd think about is food. Christie is his same nasty self it seems even with stomach staples. Let JEBBER who doesn't want it continue to waste away into. resembling Skeltor, Gov. Scott, which is still a good ways to go.

[Hydra]

5. They were hoping the Bush fatigue would be over by now

And that he could sail into the nomination basically unopposed.

Reality happened. One of the great things about reality this time is that one of my great fears did not come to pass- President Obama gave the Republican party a helping hand out of the grave during his tenure, but after the first few (horrible) years of their zombie-ish return they seem to have died on the table again, and no amount of CPR is working.

Good. Riddance.

[underpants]

6. Energy is important

Jeb clearly doesn't have ANY. None of the Repubs do -Trump doesn't have energy, he has a-hole.

BUT the primaries don't start until next year. Jeb has a ton of money and it's the internal connections (the local bosses) that are key. That and campaign infrastructure but the Repubs have shown no inclination yo creating that - the hire call centers run by heir political ops.

I thought Rand would challenge Jeb but he has no energy either. Walker has a "D'uh" look on his face all the time.

[oldandhappy]

7. I seem to remember a family intervention

during which Dubya had to be talked back into campaigning. Maybe it runs in the family. And the conventions are not until a year from now. Don't discourage him. He is doing well at eliminating himself!

[joanbarnes]

8. God, I hope you're right.

[shadowmayor]

9. Utter Mediocrities

After Bush twice elected, Perry elected four times! and now Abbott; Methinks Texas would do much better with mediocre. What's terrifying is how many radical right buttholes manage to get elected, and in this state over and over again.

The Shadow Mayor

[seafan]

12. That is what is so confounding. Jeb has been nothing but a bully in Florida.

But we have been "told" over and over and over and over that he was "such a 'POPULAR' governor, a hurricane 'hero'", and all such manner of balderdash.

It has all been total projection of his inherent weaknesses, which he tried to cover up by being an autocrat in office, and after he "left".

He has ridden roughshod over Florida with nothing but his family name and his family's money connections and his family's political connections. Jeb has NOTHING of his own to offer. We found that out the hard way in Florida.

Nothing but highway robbery. And especially in his role in installing the giggling war criminal into the White House against the will of the voters. We see how that turned out. Hell, W. was dancing the day away in New Orleans yesterday on the 10th anniversary of his Hurricane Katrina &*^%$#. It makes me sick.

Have been following this family for nearly 25 years in Florida, and, trust me, there are no redeeming qualities whatsoever in this sibling either.

It's time to push him off the stage.

[shadowmayor]

15. Let us not forget

Jeb and Lehman Bros. did a splendid job crushing the state employees pension fund to boot. And he got big bucks for managing that mess of course. Can't wait to see how that works out for New Jersey as Cartman (how we should forever refer to Christie) has leveraged pension funds to the hilt.

[seafan]

31. Not to worry. We remember.

Jeb's role at Lehman Brothers, especially for the damage to Florida's state pension fund, AND his active role in the attempted Lehman rescue/bailout, are acute vulnerabilities for him. The public MUST hear about it.

(Hello, national investigative mainstream media???)

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. People thought Trump would be the new Fred Thompson...turns out that's Jeb Bush

Remember when Thompson fell asleep at a campaign event. I think Jeb's probably close on that.

[SoapBox]

14. No more Bush...EVER!

Ever.

[flamingdem]

16. Yes, and THIS MEANS?

What exactly, Trump gets the nomination or they nominate the de-enigizer bushy or...

[Drunken Irishman]

18. My guess is it'll either be Walker or Kasich.

The base will still flirt with Trump well into November but the closer we get to January, the more likely they'll get cold feet and abandon him for either Walker or Kasich.

[Drunken Irishman]

17. Jeb is like Ted Kenendy in 1980...

Stay with me...

Teddy didn't want to run in 1980. Yeah, he was pissed at Carter. Yeah, he wanted to fuck with him. No, he didn't want to be president. He ran because of his family name and felt it was his duty. I'm not saying the reasons they didn't want to run are the same, but when you half-ass a presidential campaign it shows.

Ted Kennedy was stumped early in the primary process against Carter when he was asked, on national TV, why he wanted to be president. He didn't give a sufficient answer. That was that.

Bush doesn't want to be president. I don't know if he ever wanted to be president.

[awoke_in_2003]

20. Teddy helped Reagan get elected. nt

[Unknown Beatle]

19. Don't count him out.

With Poppy Bush's secret connections and a shit load of money, they'll again attempt to steal the election.

[quaker bill]

21. in another time

JEB could easily be the guy. This is not that time. Trump fans are not impressed with the sort of quiet and measured approach JEB has always taken. He is exactly not what they are looking for, and the family legacy only makes it worse.

On the right, they may still somewhat like GWB, but even they know that the GWB term made the election of BHO possible. They do not want a cautious and measured politician, they do not want a GOP establishment figurehead, they want a firebrand, and Trump, like the businessman he is, is delivering the product.

What they do not get on the right, among a great many things, is that Trump or a Trump-like candidate will sell really well to about 38 to 42% of the electorate. That slice will be very passionate about him, and they will lose in one for the record books.

Mittens in 2012, spent election night thinking that "his vote" was going to show up somewhere, that the "polls were skewed". The problem was that his vote did "show up" it just did not add up to all that many people. This is the thing about elections, it is not about how passionately your supporters fill in the bubble or push the button, but at the end of the day how many there are.

[alphafemale]

22. He seems almost painfully shy.

A really different personality from his strutting gloating brother,

[Gidney N Cloyd]

24. Is it possible his handlers are trying to project that difference?

I personally don't think it's all an act but if you did want to shove another bush down the public's throat, wouldn't you play it exactly that way-- make damn sure JEB! doesn't appear to share his brother's smirking, strutting, cowboy bravado persona?

[seafan]

27. Here is the thing. Jeb Bush and Dick Cheney pursue the same goals.

They both want to run things, but not out in the open. Hence the extreme secrecy that they both demand.

One of the first clues about Cheney was his secret energy meetings in early 2001, where he poured over maps to divvy up Iraq's oil fields, in the event of "a new Pearl Harbor", the proclamation of the PNAC crowd, with Jeb Bush as a signatory to its Statement of Principles, along with a nest of his fellow neoconservatives.

What is NOT In "MR. Transparency's" email release tells the story of Jeb Bush.


The intense scrutiny driven by social media is what Jeb is reckoning with right now, in my opinion. He's got some "big hairy audacious goals" for the country, and he craves all the power that the presidency affords, but he will not be able to withstand the harsh scrutiny that he is in for, in order to get there. And surely, there is more harsh scrutiny to come, as people across the country get up to speed on the LONG and sordid history of this character.

Florida in many ways is THE microcosm of what is ahead for the country if we allow any member of this family to take power again. They will attempt to steal it again, if they feel they can get away with it. And so far, they have.

We tried to stop the theft in Florida in 2000, but this place crawled with Bushies 24/7. The Machine flattened everything and everyone who resisted. But we have not forgotten what they did, and the Bush Regime now has an insurgency on its hands.

What is unfolding today takes us right back to that treachery in 2000.

Do not be fooled, Jeb Bush is a "my way or the highway" menace.

Just like Poppy, Jeb does the most damage when operating from the shadows. Out in the sunlight, he and Dick Cheney pose with a soft-spoken "statesman-like" persona.

But both of them are zealots.

Both operate best within "a shadow government". Jeb even called for one.


People like this are traitors of the highest order.


And a lot of other people are ripping back the curtains. The more we expose him, the less likely we will end up with him.

[appalachiablue]

37. A lot of what you say about JEB's 'style' and Cheney & Poppy makes sense. What has

happened to FL in the last 15-20 years is heart breaking, such a beautiful state with so much natural beauty. We have long ties all over FL for many years. Texas, which I don't know has also been hit deeply from all I've read. Here's hoping for an end to this evil crime family and their ilk, one day.

[libdem4life]

26. Somewhere on here I read that his donors are also feeling it and backing away.

In both Party situations, the outliers have been visible and popular. Trump to the Rs and Bernie to the Left. Hillary is there again, initially, with the high energy...based on the DNC feeling it's "her turn" and no one else was running. And well, she's a Clinton.

I feel sorry for her, because she can't win...maybe the Primary, God help us, but not the General. This has been the moment she has waited for all her life...the first woman President, and it's not going to happen.

Bernie has taken charge in the Ds, Trump, in all his hubris and inexperience, but with all his money, has taken charge of the Rs. I think he has so taken the air out of the R room that it will be difficult to reinvigorate it, if he steps down. He's a shoe-in for their Nominee. No one is close.

So we may end up with a charlatan ego newbie with a seasoned grandfather with a progressive messge appealing to both parties

[Beach Rat]

28. He actually called himself "Veto" Corleone?

Sheesh. I was thinking Fredo maybe, but then again his brother W laid a pretty good claim to that title. I wonder if he even knows that the name is spelled Vito?

I’m smart. Not like everybody says, like dumb. I’m smart and I want respect!

[seafan]

29. Yep, he did.

Because he ruthlessly slashed state budgets every year.

You know, for such unnecessary pork items like public school funding, high-speed rail funding, university tuition increases, spending on parks and police vehicles, job training, education programs.

Yeah, those superfluous things.

And he's proud of it to this day.

During a meeting with business leaders in Portsmouth, N.H., on May 20, 2015, Bush pointed out he was well-known for using the line-item veto at his disposal as governor.

"They called me Veto Corleone, which was something I was quite proud of," Bush said, citing a reference to Marlon Brando’s character in The Godfather. He added that he vetoed 2,500 separate line items totaling $2 billion over his eight years.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush talks to business leaders during a roundtable discussion in Portsmouth, N.H., on May 20, 2015. (AP photo)

They look impressed......

[appalachiablue]

39. What monsters, little kings of destruction and plunder.

[lonestarnot]

30. Nauseator.

[Babel_17]

32. "not family duty", no mention of Bush Senior?

It might be enough, to his dad, if Jeb Bush just looks reasonable. So that the last thing the world remembers of the Bush's isn't W's destruction of Iraq.

I think Jeb feels the weight of that on him every day, hence his performance. And I think he gets that his dad's wish might be a bridge too far.

[FlatBaroque]

33. The Bush virus has been profiting from death and destruction for generations

they are not going away any time soon. There are many young Bushes waiting in the ...bushes?!?

[appalachiablue]

38. Probably so unfortunately. I knew little about the prolific Walker family bankers until

a recent article. What horrrors-

[Liberal_in_LA]

35. we have had 12 years of Bushes as Prez, and poppy was vp for 8. that's enough

[Laura PourMeADrink]

42. I mean no disrespect to anyone with this physical deformity

but - what about his crossed/lazy eye?

Growing up my cousin had it and they operated and fixed it.

Is it not possible anymore?

It is distracting to me.