Senator Jeb Bush ?
By Doug Mataconis | Related entries in 2010 Election, SenateThe impending retirement of Mel Martinez has led to speculation that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush may make a run for the Senate:
Two sources close to Jeb Bush, including one who has spoken to the former Florida governor within the past few hours, say he is seriously considering a run for Senate now that incumbent Republican Mel Martinez has retired.
“He is receiving a lot of encouragement from both in and out of the state,” an longtime Bush adviser said tonight. “He is going to take his time and approach this very methodically.” Bush will weigh, according to this adviser, how a run would impact his family, his business, and whether the Senate would be the best platform for the causes he’d advocate — education, immigration, GOP solutions to health care and energy.
Bush did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
If he decides to run, Republicans expect the field to clear for him.
That’s from Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic, and the rumor has apparently been confirmed by The Miami Herald.
When you hear news like this, you can’t help but wonder if Jeb doesn’t just have the idea of running for President at some point in the future, and while Justin does have a point when he says that the current President Bush has done some damage to the family name, Joe Gandelman reminds us that people have said that about the Bush’s before:
Bush 41’s defeat was supposed to have set back the Bush brand. Bush 43’s virtual defeat (seeing his party defeated in November, his polls approach the South Pole, and historians rank him as one of the worst Presidents in American history) was said to have set back the Bush brand.
But it seems like the Bush brand is rising from the political grave.
If Bush does run for Florida’s open Senate seat in 2010 and wins, which seems to be at least a distinct possibility, then he will have gone a long way toward rehabilitating the Bush brand and making a political reputation of his own independent of his brother’s. After that, could a White House run — more likely in 2016 than 2012 I would think — be entirely beyond the realm of possibility ? I don’t think so.
Originally posted at Below The Beltway
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 and is filed under 2010 Election, Senate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 3rd, 2008 at 8:33 am
[...] a new scion from the Dynasty of Dumb rise up? Just when you thought that the Era of Error was over, Jeb Bush rises. He may run for the [...]
December 3rd, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Jeb only has one life to live, and I doubt he sees any reason why his brother’s stupidity and arrogance should disqualify him from a presidency he’s already tantalizingly close to. He might well go for it simply because he wants it so badly and long odds sometimes pay off. But I don’t think eight years will be enough to get even the GOP, let alone the general electorate, to assent.
December 3rd, 2008 at 3:42 pm
You’re joking right? The Jebster as a back bencher with no seniority in a minority party - I don’t think so. The Bush name is too tarnished for him to even win in FL - and by 2010 we’ll see the Dems probably pick up another 4 Senate seats……I wouldn’t count on it Jeb going the distance.
December 3rd, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Jeb Bush was the worst Florida Governor ever. I hope that a moderate-to-conservative Democrat like Allen Boyd gets the Senate nomination and sends Bush back to political retirement.
December 5th, 2008 at 12:30 am
I think Jeb could make it into the Senate. I think he could win the Republican nomination for President. I don’t think he could actually become President even by 2016.