November 1, 2015

"Look, I know that I got to get better at doing the debate. I'm a grinder."

Said Jeb Bush, grinding out an answer to the question — on "Meet the Press" — how he's going to become a better debater.
I mean, when I see that I'm not doing something well then I reset and I get better. And I'm... going to be better.... Well, I'm going to do what you have to do. This is not debating. I mean... whatever it's called, it's certainly not debating. Because I can complete a sentence in the English language pretty well, and I have ideas that will lift people up....

58 comments:

cubanbob said...

I mean, when I see that I'm not doing something well then I reset and I get better. And I'm... going to be better.... Well, I'm going to do what you have to do. This is not debating. I mean... whatever it's called, it's certainly not debating. Because I can complete a sentence in the English language pretty well, and I have ideas that will lift people up....

Alguien seria tan amable y traducir lo que dijo Bush a ingles?

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Please Jeb, just go away. Zounds, he's so freakin' clueless.

Ann Althouse said...

Who was the least intelligent person on that debate stage? I think it was Jeb Bush. Isn't that easy?

Who was the most intelligent? That's hard. Trump is always claiming to be very, very smart. It's hard to tell how much of it is a con, but he's smart at the con, so, that counts. Ben Carson was a brain surgeon. At Johns Hopkins. Of course, he's very smart. If we judge by speech alone, it's probably Cruz.

Anyway, Jeb does badly in the debates because he's outclassed. He can't do much better. He can only carry on modestly. And stop attacking Rubion.

cubanbob said...

Ann Althouse said...

Who was the least intelligent person on that debate stage? I think it was Jeb Bush. Isn't that easy?

True. But then again compare and contrast to our Vice President Biden. You might have noticed Biden was elected VP twice. Incidentally Hillary! doesn't sound as smart as Jeb! when off the prepared script.

Bay Area Guy said...

I could not watch that Jeb! interview with Chuck Todd for more than 3 minutes-- it was so painfully vapid. And, I thought Jeb! was actually a pretty good Governor 10 years ago.

But he really, really needs to see the writing on the wall and bow out gracefully. It's ok to not be president. Really, it is.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

He's a'ground.

PB said...

We've had enough of a president who's learning on the job (or on the way to it). It's not a confidence builder to claim to be that similar. Bush doesn't get it.

Hagar said...

Intelligent and smart are not necessarily synonymous.

But Jeb! is terrible as a candidate running for office.

Sebastian said...

"Who was the least intelligent person on that debate stage? I think it was Jeb Bush. Isn't that easy?"

Ha. Yes. But it's not very smart to judge intelligence that way. Not that you would. You're intelligent enough just to joke about it.

Still, if Jeb were smart, he would turn it to his advantage: whenever Americans picked the the smarter candidate, things usually turned out badly.

But he won't, because he isn't, not enough anyway.

Hagar said...

And Obama has been a very successful president so far. It is just that what he wants to do is not what you want him to do.

Unknown said...

He's going to have to be shown the door by contributors. This can't be far off. Even on the way out he'll still be nattering " but... but... but...". He's never going to get it. I'm reminded of GHW Bush scratching his head over Perot and "read my lips". Only worse.

walter said...

Reminds me of that Bush 1.0 line in Beck's "Loser":
I'm a driver; I'm a winner;
Things are gonna change
I can feel it

Beorn said...

Too late.

Jeb! has about as much political appeal as leftover oatmeal.

gadfly said...

I agree with Althouse. In the debate when Cruz tore into the CNBC folks, he accurately described every dumb question asked of the five or so candidates that preceded him - without a written note. He speaks without written or electronic help and his organization is impeccable.

Check out his speech on C-Span regarding the catastrophic Boehner budget bill. Cruz in 2016!

http://www.c-span.org/video/?328980-12/senator-ted-cruz-budget-deal

Big Mike said...

He's like a rookie quarterback who goes out and throws four interceptions. "I know I can get better." Well, you'd better do it quick, sonny, or get on with whatever else in life you want to do.

amielalune said...

Lots of people speak the English language "pretty well" and have great ideas for running the country. That does not entitle them to be president, either.

Sebastian said...

"He speaks without written or electronic help and his organization is impeccable"

Indeed. An obvious liability in American politics.

If he were really smart, he'd tone it down with some well-crafted mistakes, fillers, and non-sequiturs.

I'm not recommending full-O or full-Joe, though. Too obvious.

What he needs is the humanizing hesitation, the slip-up that elicits sympathy, the umm that connects.

Anonymous said...

Go home, Jeb.

You can tell when the heart isn't in it.

djf said...

"I have ideas that will lift people up...."

Please pass the sick bag.

Paddy O said...

Rob Low is The Grinder.

sinz52 said...

cubanbob: "But then again compare and contrast to our Vice President Biden"

Why???

What does Biden have to do with the GOP debate?

You just had to find some Democrat that all the Republicans are better than because you didn't want Ann to have the last word claiming that some Republican is dumb.

Achilles said...

Jeb would fit right in in the Dem debates though. In fact I think he would acquit himself well with the level of difficulty of questions they face.

But if you stick him on the same stage as Cruz, Fiorina, Carson, Rubio, and yes Trump, he looks like a retard. All of those people are head and shoulders above any of the democrat candidates.

wildswan said...

Intelligence isn't what is measured by how good you look on stage debating (see Obama).
If I were Bush I would be putting out podcasts like the ones Althouse does with Wright in which I analyzed with humor the debates and the general situation. Said what I would do but keep it short. Maybe do them with the other candidates or with David Petraeus, or a general Obama has fired. Talk to people no one is hearing from to whom he has access because of his family - use that. Or maybe with a total enemy, a Freedom caucus person. Probably he could influence the discussion, anyhow.

Achilles said...

sinz52 said...

"Why???

What does Biden have to do with the GOP debate?

You just had to find some Democrat that all the Republicans are better than because you didn't want Ann to have the last word claiming that some Republican is dumb."

None of the dem candidates would last a minute in any of the republican debates or on any kind of even playing field. If the democrats weren't getting help from the moderators like Obama did last time they get embarrassed.

Achilles said...

If I was asking debate questions like CNBC does here are a few:

Moderator: My question is for Mrs. Clinton. Your position is that a fetus is not a baby until it leaves the hospital. Do you think it is ok to terminate a fetus in the birth canal or even post birth?

Moderator: Hillary, you have said that women who claims to have been sexually assaulted has a right to be believed. Does that apply to the 4 separate times when women have accused your husband of sexual assault, including one where he settled out of court and paid a substantial sum of money to a woman rather than go to judgement?

Moderator: [Any Democrat], since Obamacare was passed over 95% of jobs created have been part time to avoid mandatory coverage and Obama has had to delay implementation of several provisions to avoid political losses. Do you still support Obamacare?

Moderator: The economy has been total shit since Obama took over and has remained that way for 7 years despite printing over a trillion dollars a year and borrowing a trillion dollars a year. Do you think his policies have failed?

Wince said...

Jeb is neither a grinder nor a hero.

He's more of a hoagie.

Bay Area Guy said...

@ Achilles

Moderator: My question is for Mrs. Clinton. Your position is that a fetus is not a baby until it leaves the hospital. Do you think it is ok to terminate a fetus in the birth canal or even post birth?

Moderator: Hillary, you have said that women who claims to have been sexually assaulted has a right to be believed. Does that apply to the 4 separate times when women have accused your husband of sexual assault, including one where he settled out of court and paid a substantial sum of money to a woman rather than go to judgement?

Moderator: [Any Democrat], since Obamacare was passed over 95% of jobs created have been part time to avoid mandatory coverage and Obama has had to delay implementation of several provisions to avoid political losses. Do you still support Obamacare?


Those are good hard questions, but Democrats don't think this way. They don't assess the implications of their viewpoints. They certainly don't ask these questions to themselves or other Democrats.

traditionalguy said...
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traditionalguy said...

Jeb is firmly convinced that he is entitled to own the Party of the Reagan Republicans. His Daddy got himself an insider position from an opportune move in 1980 from which to sell them out. Since then he and his Family has milked it for all it's worth for 25 years now.

eric said...

Here is me hoping that Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio stay in it to win it. At least until Carson, Trump or Cruz runs away with it.

Mark said...

Cannot help but think of Rob Lowe's new TV show, the Grinder.

Fred Savage and Rob Lowe, pretty amusing for modern TV

MadisonMan said...

You can tell when the heart isn't in it.

Yes. He reminds me of the late Fred Thompson.

Michael K said...

JEB is done and just doesn't realize it. Fred Thompson died today and would have been a better president than any of these people.

Karen of Texas said...

Wow. I was going to say Fred Thompson isn't dead. But I googled first. He just did pass away. Seemed to be a very decent man. RIP.

Laslo Spatula said...

Michael K said...
"JEB is done and just doesn't realize it. Fred Thompson died today and would have been a better president than any of these people."

Plus One.

I am Laslo.

traditionalguy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Skeptical Voter said...

Well now Jeb's presidential hopes are chopped liver--or if you are talking "grinding" hamburger.

traditionalguy said...

Jeb feels he can just confess his bad habits and then say he won't do them anymore, and that deals with the problem. Nope that just exposes the problem, just as if Trump had not nailed him on it two months ago.

walter said...

"This is not debating. I mean... whatever it's called, it's certainly not debating."
Yeah..scolding Rubio about attendance is not debating.

"I can complete a sentence in the English language pretty well"
Oh..like "I know that I got to get better at doing the debate."

walter said...

And he was right there with Kasich in the push back against the inane questions. Well..in spirit..after conceding fantasy football needed "some kind" of regulation.

robinintn said...

I keep seeing "I'm on grindr."

mccullough said...

Being a good candidate is different than being a good president. Jeb doesn't understand this. Neither does Obama. Or Cruz or Rubio. Or Trump.

Guildofcannonballs said...

"Those are good hard questions, but Democrats don't think this way. They don't assess the implications of their viewpoints. They certainly don't ask these questions to themselves or other Democrats."

Having been wrong about so much, I am not anywhere near certain, but this analysis seems almost entirely backwards to me. The only thing powerful Democratics think or care about is the optics required to gain or keep power, at the expense of everything else. Al Gore wanted to control trillions of dollars per year using carbon credits and didn't give a damn about the opportunity costs the Warmists takings would produce at the masses' expense of liberty and pursuit of happiness as guaranteed by our Constitution, Hillary attacked all of Bill's sexual assault victims, and doesn't give a rat's ass about dead babies or aborted fetus yet puts on a show that she has a human conscious, and John Kerry lied about his entire record in Vietnam all for power, not ideology or lack of reflection on how best to gain/keep power.

The fundamental implication, everconsidered, for a top potential Democratic office-seeker is Will I have the position of power to excuse my criminal malfeasance based on my idea of a lack of controlling legal authority?

This isn't a Republican concern, as much, because the media and entertainment and many tax-drainers with power want to and will act to destroy (i.e. murder the character by bearing false witness) any Republican in sight, especially the Nuke Cowboy Senile Evil Reagan and his grossly irresponsible "we win, they lose" rhetoric, preventing for instance Bush 43 or any other GOP president from doing what Obama has done to the IRS, meaning shredding our Constitution. This dynamic allows for Obama to lie and say he doesn't support Gay Marriage when he does (or did as it were) while the Leftists unleash attacks on anyone who didn't immediately shift positions when Obama publicly did as a bigoted hatemonger with a frustrated sex life worthy of only considerations scorn and ostracism might allow.

walter said...

"Being a good candidate is different than being a good president."
Ok..what do you suggest to bridge the gap without duping the voters?

Mike and Sue said...

Drudge photo of Jeb is just brutal. Just Brutal.

walter said...

Yah..no fan of Bush V.7.0 but..shit photos of all if yu cull delete folders..(and eating nails is tiring)

walter said...

But if you had to pick between Hil and Jeb?..

pm317 said...

Drudge!

Kirk Parker said...

"But if you had to pick between Hil and Jeb?.."

I'm sure I could find my old cyanide capsule.

Achilles said...

walter said...
"But if you had to pick between Hil and Jeb?.."

I would help organize resistance.

Brando said...

One thing about Bush is he tends to tell when he should be showing. Fight joyfully for the nomination? He doesn't seem very joyful. Lose the nomination to win the general election? He certainly seems to be doing the first half of that.

But he doesn't seem to really have a purpose here, with listless attacks on his rivals that seem tired and played out. Style-wise, he is reminiscent of Hillary except without the fake anger dialed up to 11.

You don't go and tell people you're a "grinder" and you're going to win debates. He's already had three and appeared tired and bored at each.

grackle said...

I'm not recommending full-O or full-Joe …

You never go full-O, man.

tim maguire said...

He just realized at the second presidential debate that his debating skills are rusty? Shouldn't that have been checked out before the first debate?

This doesn't speak well of his preparation, which doesn't speak well of his capacity to be president. I'm not grading on a curve just because our current president is a joker elected by fools.

Etienne said...

I see great possibilities for our country. I honestly believe we're on the verge of greatness.

National Assets: $118.5 Trillion
Unfunded Liabilities: $ 98.8 Trillion

We're on the verge of default.

damikesc said...

You just had to find some Democrat that all the Republicans are better than because you didn't want Ann to have the last word claiming that some Republican is dumb.

Would you prefer he reference Bernie Sanders, who champions an ideology with an unbroken 100 year record of utter failure and who once ran a home repair business without knowing how to do any home repairs?

Writ Small said...

It's weird we think of Jeb as a national politician, but he has only ever held state office. The family name and the media's trashing of George W by calling Jeb the better brother gave Jeb an unearned rise in profile. Many a popular governor has been found lacking going from the farm teams to the Majors.

Jeb's other problem is that he hasn't kept pace with the party in the years since he was last governor back in 2006. In 2006, the party was unified defending the Iraq war, and Obama was some young guy who gave a nice speech at the 2004 Dem convention. The world has since turned upside down and Jeb didn't adjust.

Fen said...

But if you had to pick between Hil and Jeb?..

Do either of them favor term limits for all federal employees?

walter said...

Jeb Bush said last month that term limits in his native Florida led to a “significantly higher quality” of legislature, as more young people and women were elected and brought with them energy to tackle the status quo.
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424320/most-americans-support-term-limits

But for all federal employees vs elected? Doubt it. So you're back to other criteria...the lesser of two idiots.