Former Florida governor Jeb Bush has been getting a lot of the usual Strange New Respect recently for his calls for the GOP to moderate, especially on immigration. Ross Douthat does a good job of puncturing Jeb's conventional wisdom in "The Great Immigration Reform Mirage."
I'm struck though that almost nobody has mentioned something that ought to be completely obvious about why Jeb Bush isn't an unbiased observer on the subject of immigration: Jeb's handsome son, George P. Bush, long designated within the Bush clan as the most likely third Bush President (George W. called his father "41" and George P. "44"), is half-Mexican. It's in Jeb's interest to increase the Mexican share of the vote so as to make his son a more plausible GOP nominee.
I sort of feel for Jeb, who had his shot at the presidency wrecked by his jag-off older brother, and I suppose it would be consolation for him to have his son be made President by having the government elect a new people.
Still, I'm struck by how these facts about the Bush Dynasty seem too interesting to be of interest to the press.
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35 comments:
"no proof Bush in league with Lucifer"
Yeah, no proof. The Devil is good about taking care of his people that way.
Latinos don't vote or care about politics.
"I sort of feel for Jeb, who had his shot at the presidency wrecked by his jag-off older brother, and I suppose it would be consolation for him to have his son be made President by having the government elect a new people. "
Now I want the troll who comes by here disputing the authorship of iSteve posts to tell me that this is not Sailer!
Gilbert P.
Seems to be an automatic assumption that the half-Mexican Bush would automatically galvanize the Hispanic voters out there. However, do any of these people ever even ask actual, living, breathing Hispanics what they might think? It might turn out they care not a bit about some half blood type. After all, their own full blooded former leaders that they left behind in their countries of origin had no compunction about robbing and exploiting them; it's not an automatic recommendation.
I don't think the Hispanic Bush will ever get a chance. Politics is getting more racial fast, with blacks and browns firmly on the democratic side. And right now, the Bush's aren't exactly popular among the GOP base.
"I sort of feel for Jeb, ..."
Do you feel for me? I had my shot at the presidency wrecked by not being a Bush in the first place.
Ex-Army wonders why George P. can't be President of the US and Mexico simultaneously, and links to you here:
http://ex-army.blogspot.com/2012/06/third-george-bush-is-charm.html
As a rule, I never feel bad for people who almost not not quite got to be president.
I would favor a constitutional amendment that no one who is named or has ever been named "Bush" or "Clinton" could ever be President of the United States.
Remember when 41 called 44 and his siblings "the little brown ones"?
How come we have to keep giving the Presidency as a consolation gift for elites who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas?
Obama: wanted Chicago mayorship, didn't get it, so we gave him the Presidency to assuage his inferiority complex.
Jeb Bush: wanted Presidency, didn't get it, so we have to give it to his son to to assuage his hurt entitlement feelings?
Why can't we just have, for once, a boring, competent, generic White guy? Maybe someone picked at random from the Omaha phone book?
Well, I came across a interesting piece on the growth of the Dem party in Ca in the late 1950's thru the early 1970's. One of those goals was to get minority vote against the whites in the burbs. Getting more blacks in La and Mexicans to vote in their areas. Why the Republicans think that hispanics outside of Cubians would vote for them I don't know. The Vietnamise are the highest minority voting block for Republicans in the state not latinos. So, Jeb Bush in Florida has not face reality.
Had to look up the term jag-off. Harsh.
What does that make Jeb?
Well, when Reagan did it most illegal immirgants live in Ca, so most of the US outside of the big states was unfamilar with it. There were hardly any illegals in the south then except Tyson chicken.
I dunno. The whole Bush clan has been like this for as long as I can remember.
No one mentions it because everyone remembers it.
My girl friend used to argue for open borders when her son was engaged to a Mexican girl. They broke up and her politics politics reversed. Like Jeb Bush the desire for grandchildren overcame judgement.
Albertosaurus
Steve, isn't it also possible that Jeb is preparing the way for George P. to enter politics as a Democrat? Based on what I've heard about George P., I can't see any way he could become a national leader in the Republican Party. He's active in La Raza, for heaven's sake.
My girl friend used to argue for open borders when her son was engaged to a Mexican girl.
I hope he's cool with you spanking his Mom...
@ Gilbert and JSM,
Great comments!
Yeah! I'm with Anonymous 10:30AM...
Jeb Bush expects George P. to join the Democrat party; that's all. The Bushes are not ideologues.
'Had to look up the term jag-off. Harsh.'
More like 'dickless'.
"I sort of feel for Jeb, who had his shot at the presidency wrecked by his jag-off older brother,"
He didn't have anything wrecked, he will probably be the front-runner in 2016 once this Mormon goofball takes a dive to get Barry back in in November.
"Why can't we just have, for once, a boring, competent, generic White guy?"
"for once" is right, I can't remember us ever having that. At least not since I've been alive.
They want him to be president of the future NAU (North American Union).
I like this, Steve, but I don't get how it's a "conflict of interests." If Jeb Bush thinks his son might one day become President, then according to your own ideas his tactic should simply be to oppose immigration (at least to whatever extent Republicans acceptably can), since Hispanic voters are kind of apathetic to the issue. He might also point out that his wife followed proper procedures, holding her up as an example of how immigration ought to be.
By the way, George P. went to Rice!
He's a good looking guy, I could see him being a presidential candidate some day. Besides, most people think of Obama has black -- not half-black -- so if George P. Bush markets himself correctly why couldn't people think of him as white, rather than half-white? According to her Wikipedia photo, his mom looks only vaguely Hispanic; she could easily pass for fully white if she wanted. If George P. got out of that Austin sunshine for a few months and made sure he was well-lit at media events he probably could too.
Bad theory. We don't even know that a Republican Hispanic would get a majority of the Hispanic vote.
It is hard to imagine Americans voting for a Bush unless they have a desire to see where the progression leads. Bush 41- little recession, Bush 44- Great Recession, Bush ?- little depression and finally Bush ?-Great Depression.
A Bush will never again win the white Republican vote. That dynasty is kaput.
The Bushes push Hispanic immigration because they're traitors to the American people, opposed to the historic WASP majority (despite being WASPs themselves), and/or sellouts to the cheap labor lobby.
If Jeb thinks his son has a political future then he is every bit as dumb as his brother.
"Seems to be an automatic assumption that the half-Mexican Bush would automatically galvanize the Hispanic voters out there."
Like a black Republican would automatically get the black vote.
It's a nonsense meme pushed out as general flak.
I keep hearing that open borders are promoted by avaricious Republican businessmen want to protect their source of cheap labor.
Is this true?
If so what are the names of these businessmen and how much do they save? Where I live there are lots of Mexicans and Mayans who congregate on the street corners to try to pick up a day's labor. To me it looks like these raggedy guys are all hired by individual homeowners for yard work. This may be wrong for the nation but it is not a conspiracy.
People keep referring to businesses that supposedly have entire industrial workforces made up of illegal aliens. I wouldn't know of course. Presumably if these work forces existed they would be kept hidden. But are they real at all? Or are they another leftist fantasy?
Is there a good authoritative book on the illegal alien labor market? Or are we reduced to just relying on media "talking points".
Is the problem the soft headed Jeb Bush or is it some set of hard headed industrialists focused on labor costs?
Albertosaurus
"Jeb Bush expects George P. to join the Democrat party; that's all. The Bushes are not ideologues."
They've worked so hard to remake the republican party that I have trouble believing they would ditch it for political expedience. In a few election cycles the only type of republican presidential candidate who may be electable is one that looks like Jorge Bush III. Demographic changes are the only reason Obama's reelection is even at play this year.
"According to her Wikipedia photo, his mom looks only vaguely Hispanic; she could easily pass for fully white if she wanted."
Where, the optometrist's office?
Quit trying to deflect attention from the fact that you're spanking the poor kid's Mom.
Good grief.
"Where I live there are lots of Mexicans and Mayans who congregate on the street corners to try to pick up a day's labor. To me it looks like these raggedy guys are all hired by individual homeowners for yard work... People keep referring to businesses that supposedly have entire industrial workforces made up of illegal aliens. I wouldn't know of course." -
Albertosaurus
Suddenly the Albertosaurus who's worked in 87 different types of jobs wouldn't know ("of course") the degree to which illegal labor has come to dominate numerous major American industries. Never eaten at a restaurant, Alberto? Never driven by a construction site? Never stayed in a hotel? Certainly in one of your 30 or so different careers you had to travel occasionally? They at least paid you well enough to afford you a vacation every now and then, right? Nevermind...
"In a few election cycles the only type of republican presidential candidate who may be electable is one that looks like Jorge Bush III."
General rule of thumb is that the Peters have to outnumber the Pauls. The balance of power, the comptetitiveness of the Republican Party, won't change as the number of people who produce more than they consume will shift their votes to the Republican side. As government necessarily shrinks, fewer whites and Asians will see a reason to support the party of big government.
Wouldn't he be another Bill Richardson? I.E. a privileged WASP with a suntan? Who says the Mexican-"Americans" would give a damn about where his mother was from?
I wouldn't underestimate the importance of names. Bill Richardson and George Bush could have been the names of the village blacksmith and wheelwright in Olde England. That loses them mucho ethnic credibility with their putative natural constituencies. You can't be a "man of honour" unless you have a clearly Italian surname. Names matter. Might a member of an uber-WASP American political dynasty called George Prescott Bush find Mexican votes less forthcoming than he is led to expect?
Also, it's remarkable how much Jeb is his father's son while W is his mother's son - in looks, character and temperament.
Also, could GHWB, who is one of the few men to have lived to see his son complete a presidential term of office (two in fact), live long enough to see a second son run for the presidency, if not actually win it? Obviously, let's hope neither he nor any of us sees that happen, but if he lives as long as Reagan and Ford did then it's a possibility.
Lastly, GHWB and Barbara have 2.5 years to go before their seventieth wedding anniversary. That's kind of mind-boggling. Puts me in mind of his mistress of many years who seems to have been largely scrubbed from the internet.
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