"Is Jeb Bush Turning Into Michael Dukakis?" or "Is Jeb Bush the Mitt Romney of 2016?" Which is right

[Attorney in Texas]

The knuckle-draggers who think Jebush is too moderate to win their nomination are pushing the theme that Jebush is too weak as a candidate, but they cannot decide which Massachusetts candidate Jebush resembles.

"Is Jeb Bush Turning Into Michael Dukakis?" Politico makes this comparison (horribly unfair to Michael Dukakis, a great guy who had a few bad moments in his campaign), and Jebush has got to be worried about such comparisons in the right-leaning media:

The ease with which Trump has stepped into the passion vacuum in the Republican race points up a bigger problem for Jeb: The only excitement generated by his Bush candidacy so far seems manufactured, much like the exclamation point at the end of his Jeb! logo. Given what a commanding lead he has built in money and organization, it’s striking how Bush’s poll numbers have been flat or declining. In New Hampshire, where Bush’s pragmatic and moderate conservatism was supposed to play well, he had 21 percent support in early June, but only 12 percent in a poll taken July 28. In Iowa, he is closer to the middle of the 17-candidate field than the top.

At an event for Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst last month, Cathy Grawe, who has been active in the Iowa GOP for more than 20 years, says she talked to more than 100 potential voters and that “not one mentioned Jeb Bush. Not good or bad. Not that I’m thinking of voting for him. Nothing. Zero.”

...

What he should be asking himself is: Am I in danger of becoming Michael Dukakis? Already? ... Trump retweeted (though it was later deleted) a remark about Bush’s wife: “#JebBush has to like the Mexican Illegals because of his wife.” Bush didn’t even bother to answer the insult himself and instead had an aide respond ...Bush also failed to deliver a direct response to Hillary Clinton’s mockery of his “right to rise” Super PAC and campaign theme in recent days, again leaving it to a campaign aide to respond.

"Is Jeb Bush the Mitt Romney of 2016?" New York magazine simultaneously makes the unflattering comparison of Jebush to bland rich failure, Romney:

When asked about his support for cutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood at the Southern Baptist Convention event in Nashville, Bush tried to explain why it isn't a so-called "war on women." "You could take dollar for dollar — although I'm not sure we need a half a billion dollars for women's health issues — but if you took dollar for dollar, there are many extraordinarily fine organizations, community health organizations, that exist, federally-sponsored community health organizations, to provide quality care for women on a wide variety of health issues," he said. ...But he hasn't figured out how to avoid such gaffes altogether. In the past three months, Bush declared "immigrants are more fertile," said Americans "need to work longer hours," and discussed a Medicare "phase out." Gaffes are a part of every campaign these days (see Clinton's "don’t let anybody tell you that it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs,&quot , but the severity and regularity of Bush's flubs have drawn comparisons to the last GOP presidential nominee.

Is Politico or New York right? Which Massachusetts candidate is Jebush morphing into? How long before someone compares Jebush to John Kerry to complete the trifecta?

[Gothmog]

1. Jeb is making some stupid and unforced errors

[C_U_L8R]

2. He's like the man who wasn't there.

Just a gelatinous blob of wishywash. Who'd vote for that?

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

3. He may be the one to expose the recipe !

https://s.yimg.com/fz/api/res/1.2/4P9kMYcE2BNgpVov7Tz_wQ--/YXBwaWQ9c3JjaGRkO2g9OTAwO3E9OTU7dz0xMjAw/https://lh3.ggpht.com/RGfCDNq0Pe8Bxh1S04AE9o7cJvP3o3zPPSKfWiZMsJrW7arNJ3DcXBktZnqwRb2PDnPY=h900



?itok=oVyRZrCK

[GeorgeGist]

4. The stupid runs deep.

[Johonny]

5. Jeb! is a lot like his dad and brother. Ugly campaign but ready to go racist,

sexist, and claim to be taking the high ground. The Bush family is letting Trump sow the racist crap while he waits for Donald to get bored and leave.

[Attorney in Texas]

6. Is Jebush more like his brother, his dad, or Romney? W knew his limits and let the Vice Furher make

all the big decisions, but Jebush seems to think he is smarter than his brother and is capable of making his own decisions.

HWBush was relentlessly ambitious, and Jebush acts like he had to be begged to run for this nomination.

If Jebush lacks his father's ambition and his brother's willingness to hold the title while delegating the policy issues to someone else, then who is he like?

Seems to me that Jebush is Romney (and more like Romney 2008 than Romney 2012). He's pursuing a strategy of holding himself out as the office-manager-in-chief candidate who will assure economic giveaways for corporations and the wealthy while pursuing a social policy that seeks to balance him as far enough to the right to win the primary while trying to minimize the collateral damage with independents in the general electorate. That was Romney's strategy. Jebush's only real demonstrated competence as a candidate is locking down the establishment funding bundlers. That was Romney's core competence. Jebush thinks he can outspend and outlast his opponents until the choice comes down to him versus someone who doesn't have a prayer in the general election and this will cause the party base to gather around Jebush. This was the Romney 2008 playbook.

Jebush's strategy and appeal was insufficient to win the nomination for Romney 2008, and the Teabaggers wield a bigger veto in the nominating process than they did in 2008.

I think bush is the favorite, but I like his chances only a hair better than Walker's.