Jeb Bush, the new Dan Quayle?

[n2doc]

By Brent Budowsky, columnist, The Hill


A longtime friend and wise political sage in Texas asked me this morning: "Brent, do you think Jeb Bush is the new Sarah Palin or the new Dan Quayle?" His question got my columnist juices flowing, and here is my take.

Sarah Palin has wit and charm, but I would never vote for her for anything, and if McCain-Palin had won in 2008 and Palin ever became president, I would either have built a bomb shelter or moved to Paris. There were so many great issues of state she knew nothing about, and she had more than one wild and crazy idea when discussing global security. Her finger on the nuclear button is a thought that makes my hair fall out.

On the other hand, after the week from hell that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) has just created for himself, I am convinced that there is a great analogy between the Jeb Bush that runs for president in 2016 and the Dan Quayle that ran for vice president in 1988. Quayle was fundamentally a good guy, and a reasonably decent senator — more than was given credit for (even though I usually disagreed with him).

Bush, like Quayle, comes from a high-level family pedigree and was a respectable governor in the same way Quayle was a respectable senator. There are many matters that Bush has substantive knowledge of, but how to run for president is not among them.

This week, the Republican debates began in earnest. There were two. The first was Jeb Bush vs. Jeb Bush, which Jeb Bush lost. How many positions did he take on Iraq? Three? Four? A steady hand at the helm he was not.

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http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/242267-jeb-bush-the-new-dan-quayle

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Interesting analogy...

I never thought much of Quayle, other than his VP stint (which was very entertaining)...

[Frank Cannon]

2. I always thought Dubya was mostly just drunk off his ass.

Or snowed on pills. I remember when he debated Ann Richards, and although he was no cognitive Hercules then, he wasn't the completely addled dumbass he regularly appeared to be when he got into the White House. No one but addicts, dementia patients, and the severely head-injured show that kind of decline in function over time.

Jeb, on the other hand, seems to be just a true, garden-variety dullard. Like most really stupid people, he has no awareness of this problem and just naturally assumes that we are all as dumb as he is.

[Cosmocat]

3. Both different flavors of sons of entitlement

I think you nailed Jeb pretty well. Because he is a bit nerdier than Jr. that got him the "smart" Bush son categorization from the loving media. But, he clearly is not a real sharp guy generally, and certainly is not a quick thinker in the public forum.

Jr was a dumb ass, but he got the party boy dna, he was snappier and had that superficial veneer of personality that unfortunately appeals to a lot of people. While I agree pretty strongly that he was using substances while in the white house, he also had that discipline thing in other ways - Jeb is a doughboy type, Jr. runs and bikes, gets into that pattern of exercise. He also was angry down inside and motivated by a father/son complex to try to out do his father.

So, he let Rove mold him as a public figure. Given a compliant, republican enabling national media, a perfect storm to elect "the guy you would like to have a beer with" vs the smart and capable (or, arrogant liar) guy.

[Go Vols]

4. potatoe

[Motown_Johnny]

5. I honestly think he is trying to lose.

I can't see any other reasonable explanation for his recent comments.

Even he can't be that stupid.

[MoonRiver]

6. It's so refreshing to read posts attacking Rethugs rather than Dems here.

Also, I think the author is onto something. Jeb isn't as dumb as Quayle or Palin, but he just can't shake his absolute loyalty to family. Thus, considering how hated dimson is on both sides of the isle, he's probably toast.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. Let's let this play out before we bury Bush lll

He still is the Republicants second or first strongest general election candidate, imho.

[ananda]

8. Sarah Palin has wit and charm?

Where?

[procon]

9. He's doing a great job of mimicking Rick Perry. nt

[Gothmog]

10. Bush may well be this generations Dan Qualye