Althouse: "When Chris Wallace asks Bush if he squandered his initial advantage by failing to come up with a 'message' that would 'connect' with voters, Bush brushes this off as a question about 'process'..."

January 3, 2016

"When Chris Wallace asks Bush if he squandered his initial advantage by failing to come up with a 'message' that would 'connect' with voters, Bush brushes this off as a question about 'process'..."

"... which the media cares about more than he does. Instead, Bush wants to talk about how he's 'on the ballot in every state,' which is 'hard' to do and not every candidate has done. Of course, getting on the ballot is all about 'process,' and Wallace's question was not about 'process'; it was about the substance of Bush's campaign."

27 comments:

Yancey Ward said...: Exactly, no substance that one can identify. I mean, I know he has that, but I am not your typical voter one has to reach. He is seemingly clueless about how to get elected.; 1/3/16, 12:11 PM
MacMacConnell said...: And according to the "media" over the last two decades Jeb was the smart Bush. Well they were wrong about Obama too.; 1/3/16, 12:11 PM
MikeR said...: Bush never had a chance. A lot of rich and politically connected folks didn't know that. A lot of liberals thought he was a shoo-in. The rest of us said, "Another Bush? That's crazy. No way."; 1/3/16, 12:14 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: Just. Go. Away.; 1/3/16, 12:14 PM
Jim Gust said...: Bush has laid the foundation for losing the presidential primary in every single state. I wonder how many others have done that?

I also wonder why Chris Wallace wastes valuable time on Mr. Low Energy, who fails to answer a direct question.; 1/3/16, 12:19 PM
Danno said...: Faceplant didn't allow me to watch the link, so I can't comment on the interview. However it is impressive to see the mother/son tag team of the Sunday talk shows.; 1/3/16, 12:28 PM
traditionalguy said...: The Bush Dynasty III was his $125,000,000 message loud and clear in his announcement that it was over. That works on Tea Party Republicans like a return to Communism works on today's Pole and Czech's.

In three months at Midway and on Guadalcanal the Japs in charge suffered from a similar Victory Disease, as they counted up the death of the Japanese Army and the death of Japanese Navy.

The Yorktown's Dive bomber pilots and the First Marines Raiders used firepower and fought to win, unlike the Chinese and the Singapore Brits had done. Trump snuck up on the GOP field the same way.; 1/3/16, 12:45 PM
rcocean said...: Bush III is in a bad position compared to his father and brother.

At heart they were both like Jeb. Moderates who just wanted to support the Status Quo. But Bush-I could lie and campaign like Reagan Jnr., while Bush-II could pretend to be a "Compassionate Conservative" and attack McCain for being a RINO/Social Liberal.

Bush-III OTOH has strong competition to his right, and he can't pretend to be anyone except himself. And after McCain/Romney and McConnell/Ryan the moderate Republican brand is poison.; 1/3/16, 1:07 PM
Big Mike said...: If there was a good reason to vote for Jeb Bush, I would consider doing so. But what is the reason? When has he ever given us a reason to vote for him?

I agree with Mac McConnell upthread -- Jeb is not the smarter brother. And comparing George W. Bush to his successor, I'm forced to conclude that it takes more brains to get a Harvard MBA than a Harvard Juris Doctor.; 1/3/16, 1:10 PM
Michael K said...: "I also wonder why Chris Wallace wastes valuable time on Mr. Low Energy,"

I do too but I saw worse later as somebody was interviewing Santorum. He makes Stassen look timely.

Bush looks like he has to be talked out of bed every day.

It is so revealing that the establishment is unable to see what is happening all around them. Louis XV even figured out what was happening and said, "Apres Moi, deluge."; 1/3/16, 1:42 PM
Quaestor said...: Jeb has used every opportunity given him to insult the intelligence of the voter at large. Every time I hear speak I become more and more convinced that if by some kind of smoke-filled-room shenanigans he manages to finagle the nomination I'm voting for Hillary.; 1/3/16, 1:47 PM
mccullough said...: He has no policies to run on so there's no message. He seems to be running on Romney's "competent manager" message. That's a losing proposition. HW Bush was the last one who ran successfully on this. Even Gore couldn't pull it off in a similar circumstance to HW.

Jeb can't run without running against his brother's record and hes not doing that. Trump is. Jeb can't just run against Obama and Hilary. His brother, like Obama, was a bad president. And although Hillary will be as bad as W and Obama, Jeb isn't going to get elected on the message "I won't be as bad as Hillary will"; 1/3/16, 1:55 PM
Balfegor said...: I think the problem wasn't so much that he couldn't come up with a "message" that appealed to voters -- that sort of suggests that he had an aimless and message-less campaign. But he has a very clear message. It is: "I prefer industrious foreign peasants to you lazy natives." And his problem is that this "message" is highly unappealing to said natives, who are still allowed to vote about these things, more or less, even if their supposed representatives keep trying to slip it by them when they aren't looking. I suppose it's to his credit that he doubled down on his doomed campaign message -- he won't pander in his desperation, unlike Rubio -- but it would be madness for the natives to choose such a man as their leader.; 1/3/16, 2:23 PM
chickelit said...: Why Jeb tanked is simple: His election would violate the spirit (but not the letter) of the 22nd Amendment. Technically, the family has already had three terms; a fourth would be a Bush too far.

Cue The Seeds' "Bushin' Too Hard," one of the many semi-centennial songs Althouse should be covering from the best year in pop.; 1/3/16, 2:30 PM
Michael said...: Jeb, poor man, is the very definition of out of step. Clueless. What does he do all day to be so incredibly insular, so out of it?; 1/3/16, 2:33 PM
David Begley said...: Jeb is a captive of the political consulting class and the status quo. No chance.; 1/3/16, 2:50 PM
grimson said...: It was a non-answer to a poor question, but it did yield a nice observation by AA.; 1/3/16, 3:45 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: At this point, posting about Jeb is tantamount to posting about Pataki.

Jeb! needs to gracefully bow out, and give his $ and network to Rubio or Cruz.; 1/3/16, 4:25 PM
Mid-Life Lawyer said...: I was expecting to see "the smartest Bush" in this campaign. Although I was skeptical about him, I had not written him off at all. I was open minded about him. I'm open to anyone who can generally make a coherent case for conservatism and get elected to anything. But he has been dismal. Really, he is painful to watch. I feel sorry for him. Some candidates piss me off, or seem out of touch, or whatever. I just feel bad for him. That's not really a good way to get elected.; 1/3/16, 4:36 PM
Paco Wové said...: Excellent comment, Balfegor. (Somebody send that man a Guaca Bowle!); 1/3/16, 5:03 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: JEB may be the smartest Bush. But, he seems clueless about how to win elections. His brother was not. And, he had some fire, which JEB does not.

Pushing for anything besides deportation of illegals is stupid in this election. But, JEB is the establishment candidate, and, more so than probably any other subject, the establishment has sold out on immigration. I think that it is mostly that the big money is behind more, and more restrictive H-1B visas, which make a lot of money for a certain segment of industry. And, then the Dems, and notably Harry Reid, in particular, made sure that immigration "reform" included amnesty for further Dem voters, as well as more H-1B. So, to get what the establishment wanted, they had to give the Dems what they wanted. But, that is poison for rank and file Republicans, as well as others who are being harmed by illegals taking American jobs. I think that JEB is cerebral enough that he never comprehended the passion that so many Republicans and crossover Democrats have on this subject.

Still, process is not bad. He might make a good President. Couldn't be worse than either Obama or Hillary. And, likely much better. If he were the nominee, I wouldn't have to hold my nose to vote for him. But, until then, I will vote for almost anyone else instead.; 1/3/16, 7:07 PM
SGT Ted said...: He never was the "smartest". He was just a Progressive when it comes to immigration. So, the press anointed him as "smart".

If he was "smart" he wouldn't have pissed off the GOP base with his Progressive immigration policies.; 1/3/16, 7:42 PM
Sammy Finkelman said...: . Louis XV even figured out what was happening and said, "Apres Moi, deluge."

I thought that was Louis XIV (died 1714) but it was actually Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's official - very official - mistress, and referred to France's standing in the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquise_de_Pompadour

France suffered a defeat at the hands of the Prussians in the Battle of Rossbach in 1757, and eventually lost her American colonies to the British. After Rossbach, Madame de Pompadour is alleged to have comforted the king saying this now famous by-word: "au reste, après nous, le Déluge" ("Besides, after us, the Deluge").[8] France emerged from the war diminished and virtually bankrupt.; 1/3/16, 7:48 PM
Darrell said...: "I'm voting for Hillary."

Words that completely destroy a person's credibility.; 1/3/16, 8:17 PM
Balfegor said...: Pushing for anything besides deportation of illegals is stupid in this election. But, JEB is the establishment candidate, and, more so than probably any other subject, the establishment has sold out on immigration. I think that it is mostly that the big money is behind more, and more restrictive H-1B visas, which make a lot of money for a certain segment of industry.

Perhaps. But I think for Jeb, it's a genuine emotional preference for Latin Americans over the natives, not merely a cold calculation of profit and loss.; 1/3/16, 9:22 PM
J said...: Besides the slothful campaign and the attacks on native voters through immigration Bush is also to blame for Charlie Crist and Pam Bondi.Two more things the establishment Pubs brought us here in Florida.And that vicious witch that prosecuted Zimmerman.Most of us have figured out that the GOPe is not on our side.; 1/4/16, 12:57 AM
Michael K said...: Seems it was said twice or someone was fibbing.

Louis XV was at heart a well intentioned, but weak willed man. As he lay dying and spoke the words, "Apres moi, le deluge" he was realising that he could have done so much mor eto improve France, however he had actually turned a blind eye. If Louis XV had made the reforms which were necessary to France decades earlier then he may have left society and the economy in a more stable and governable condition. As it was he was handing the kingdom over to his grandson Louis XVI who inherited the throne at 19 years old, and even though he tried extremely hard to do the right things, it was now to late, the monarchy had lost its iron grip and now revolution was not if, but when!

Maybe twice ?; 1/4/16, 7:22 AM