Mitt Romney has thinned the universe of possible GOP presidential candidates, as announced in the manner befitting the seriousness of the Republican Party: on twitter.
There is near consensus that Romney's withdrawal will benefit John Ellis Bush and to a lesser extent New Jersey governor Christopher J. Christie, both favorites of the media and of the Wall Street wing of the Repub Party (but I repeat himself). Crooks and Liars' karoli concludes the former Florida governor
... can't be elected President. We cannot have another Bush in the White House, and certainly not Jeb. The press and pundits will spend a lot of time trying to convince us all that Jeb Bush is a moderate candidate who can appeal to Latino voters and the white working class voter alike. It's up to all of us to make sure each and every voter understands that behind the veneer, the heart of a cold-hearted, hard-core conservative lurks.
As karoli notes, despite immigration reform and Common Core (on which his seemingly liberal views resonate well with the GOP donor base), John Ellis Bush is a hard-core right winger. We should recall The New York Times reported in 2003
Gov. Jeb Bush has asked a court to appoint a guardian for the fetus of a developmentally disabled rape victim, a move that has angered women's rights groups and reignited the debate over abortion in Florida.
The governor intervened in the case this week, ordering lawyers for the state to ask the Orange County Circuit Court in Orlando to appoint a representative to protect the fetus's rights despite an earlier decision by the Florida Department of Children and Families to ask the court to appoint a guardian for the baby only after the woman gives birth.
Judge Lawrence Robert Kirkwood of the Circuit Court ruled this afternoon that the woman would remain in the care of the state's adult protective services program but declined to consider the issue of the fetus because the request had not been made before today's status hearing was scheduled. The judge said the state could submit motions on behalf of the fetus and that the court would consider them later.
At issue is whether appointing a guardian for a fetus could force a woman to maintain a pregnancy if the interests of the guardian for the fetus conflicted with the interests of a mother or her representative. In a 1989 case, the Florida Supreme Court declared that it was ''clearly improper'' to appoint a guardian for a fetus. In the current case, neither the woman nor anyone caring for her has sought to abort the fetus.
(Opposing Bush's move were a few organizations including the ACLU, which maintained that there had never been an instance in which a governor had requested a court-appointed guardian for a fetus. The Court ruled against the JEB Administration, which appealed. A guardian appointed for the expectant mother recommended the fetus- for which an abortion never had been considered- be carried to term. The baby eventually was delivered healthy, according to National Right to Life)
The case of "Baby Girl S" bears a similarity to that of Terry Schiavo, also a case in which Bush's anti-choice fanaticism resulted in an apparently unprecedented interference with operations of the judiciary.
Steve M. believes John Ellis Bush will be this year's Jon Huntsman, noting the former Florida governor issued a statement which
is going to haunt him until he drops out, which he will do very, very early in the race, assuming he runs at all. In fact, this quote is going to haunt him for the rest of his political life (although I guess this race will probably end his political life).
He believes "there's no way in hell Jeb's going to win even a single delegate" because he
has apparently decided that the base wants to be insulted and will reward repeated insults with votes. It's the kind of conclusion you come to when you take centrist pundits seriously -- voters want you to give it to them straight. No, they don't -- Republican voters sure don't. Elsewhere we're told that Jeb said of America's population of undocumented immigrants, “There is no way they are going to be deported. No one is suggesting an organized effort to do that. The cost would be extraordinary." Really? Is that what you think, Jeb? The people whose votes you want think deporting all undocumented immigrants is precisely what we should be doing, cost be damned -- and we should have across-the-board tax cuts at the same time! And balance the budget! While fighting more overseas wars!
SM was responding to the Breitbart story that last weekend (video below)
in San Francisco while speaking to the National Automobile Dealers Association, former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) said, “First and foremost we need to control our border.”
“The 40 percent of the people that have come here illegally came with a legal visa and overstayed their bounds,” he added. “We ought to be able to figure out where they are and politely ask them to leave.”
State and local enforcement should partner with the federal government to encourage illegal aliens to return to their home countries in a “compassionate” way, Bush continued.
John Ellis Bush will win a single delegate- even former Texas governor John Connally won a single delegate in 1980. He may win even several delegates. Bush's stance on immigration won't alone deny him the nomination, inasmuch as the donor base is quite comfortable with it and the popular base always can be thrown red meat, tried-and-true conservative rhetoric about lazy poor people not wanting to work, lazy disabled people wanting to sit at home faking injuries, lazy union members not wanting to work, or lazy old people draining tax money through earned benefits, which are derided as "entitlements." (There might be a pattern here- say, contempt for Americans.)
But the quote ultimately will doom Bush. He did not call for compassion or love, two things Republicans (as well as Democrats) value, usually for those who have to the exclusion of those who have not. He did, however, say "we ought to be able to figure out where they are and politely ask them to leave."
Politely ask them to leave? When this is mocked in GOP debates and shown in campaign commercials, it will not go well for John Ellis Bush. The conservative Republican psyche is not one which favors approaching lawbreakers or anyone flouting conservative values and "asking them (politely) to leave." The macho instinct of most GOP voters will not tolerate that, leaving right-winger John Ellis Bush, in a right-wing field, toast.
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