# Jeb Bush campaign for POTUS thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 16, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672 "2015-06-16T13:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/301 "2015-10-27T13:06:03Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Oh lordy, lordy, lordy! Poor JEB! is on the ropes and none of the Bushies can figure out why this has happened! I gotta say JEB!'s little snit is typical of the patrician mindset of the entire family. “How dare these low-class upstarts dare challenge the accepted order! OFF with their heads!” Gotta say I love that last quote especially. Translation: “When we got all the proles worked up, they were supposed to be angry about the things WE wanted them to be angry about, and angry at the people WE wanted them to be angry at. They weren’t SUPPOSED to have minds of their own!” Well, tough luck, Dr. Frankenstein. The monster is out of the lab, and roaming the countryside. Good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/302 "2015-10-27T14:51:34Z")
“Do not use this brain! Abnormal!” Said so right on the jar. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/303 "2015-10-27T16:46:03Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > First let’s see if she can win IA and/or NH. Biden’s exit from the race doesn’t seem to have improved her standing in the two states that are actually paying attention. New Monmouth poll of Iowa Dems has [Hillary absolutely crushing it](http://www.monmouth.edu/assets/0/32212254770/32212254991/32212254992/32212254994/32212254995/30064771087/c83c0429-6c12-47a7-ac86-9bd1beab9bfb.pdf), 65-24. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/304 "2015-10-27T16:49:56Z")
> [@2ManyTacos](#): > > I love every single thing about Jeb!'s flailing candidacy. The fact that it’s dumbfounded his entire family is just icing on the cake. > > And yes, that means I’m resoundingly indebted to Trump. I want him in this thing as long as humanly possible. I’m **Elendil’s Heir** , and I approve of this message. ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/305 "2015-10-28T12:21:39Z")
Jeb! recently unveiled his plan to [raise the SS retirement age & turn Medicare into a coupon system.](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/jeb-bush-paul-ryan-medicare-overhaul-215186) I think this is just the break his campaign needed. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/306 "2015-10-28T14:59:09Z")
I think it’s just what’s needed to break his campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/307 "2015-10-28T15:01:07Z")
> [@2ManyTacos](#): > > Jeb! recently unveiled his plan to [raise the SS retirement age & turn Medicare into a coupon system.](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/jeb-bush-paul-ryan-medicare-overhaul-215186) > > I think this is just the break his campaign needed. Yep. Angry working-class white people who are counting the years to retirement will be _all about_ tacking on a few extra years before they get the entitlements they were promised. Because the GOP isn’t the party of free stuff, it’s the party of free stuff _for old white people_, and taking that away will in no way hurt the electability of the GOP’s entitled son with their strongest demographic. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/308 "2015-10-28T17:11:40Z")
Here’s CNN Politics on how Jeb! might - or might not - learn from McCain’s 2008 come-from-behind win of the GOP nomination: [http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/28/politics/jeb-bush-mitt-romney-john-mccain-election-history/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/28/politics/jeb-bush-mitt-romney-john-mccain-election-history/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/309 "2015-10-28T17:20:27Z")
You know, Republicans need to completely erase the word “Voucher” from their vocabulary. It’s NEVER popular and we all know it’s a scam that’s going to cost us. Frankly, Jeb isn’t getting any traction because he’s shown very clearly that he’s nothing but an extension of his brother. Same advisors, same staff, same lame ideas and proven wrong policies. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/310 "2015-10-28T17:21:51Z")
> [@2ManyTacos](#): > > Jeb! recently unveiled his plan to [raise the SS retirement age & turn Medicare into a coupon system.](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/jeb-bush-paul-ryan-medicare-overhaul-215186) > > I think this is just the break his campaign needed. “If we do not have an honest conversation about what it will take to protect Medicare and Social Security, we fail seniors and we will fail the next generation of Americans,” Bush wrote. As somebody said in Vietnam, “We had to destroy the village in order to save it.” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/311 "2015-10-28T18:46:53Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Here’s CNN Politics on how Jeb! might - or might not - learn from McCain’s 2008 come-from-behind win of the GOP nomination: [http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/28/politics/jeb-bush-mitt-romney-john-mccain-election-history/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/28/politics/jeb-bush-mitt-romney-john-mccain-election-history/index.html) That article has one big reason Jeb Bush is no John McCain: No human interest. McCain was a POW and therefore a war hero. Jeb was a Bush and therefore a child of privilege from a political dynasty. Nobody, least of all the current Conservative _Montagnards_, wants to hear anything like that. Moreover, McCain’s come-from-behind run was down to his native personality: He was a _fighting_ asshole. He was a Lyndon Johnson. (Not in terms of policy, in terms of personality.) He was the kind of person a lot of Conservatives want to be. Jeb’s a _smirking_ asshole. He’s a petty middle-manager, or Dubya without the party-boy charm. He’s the kind of person a lot of Conservatives want to strangle. By all rights, Trump should come across as a smirking asshole. However, he’s crazy. He’s Nixon on cocaine crazy. He’s Charlie Sheen with a… uh… _worse_ hairstyle. He comes across as a fighting asshole because he might, in fact, jump across a podium at the next debate and pummel Carson (who won’t notice until a couple debates later). ---
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/312 "2015-10-29T13:26:56Z")
IMO last night’s debate officially kicked off the Jeb! Death Watch (or should it be written “Jeb:(” now?). Barring some crazy Rubio sex or bribery scandal or something, I just don’t see how Bush turns around the narrative that he’s been a profoundly mediocre, over-hyped candidate. The establishment misstepped early on, they bet on the wrong horse, but all of it happened early enough that they can cut their losses and go with someone else. How long does he hang on? My guess is he pins his hopes on a NH comeback, fizzles spectacularly, and drops out immediately thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/313 "2015-10-29T14:11:29Z")
In all seriousness, raising the SS retirement age is not something we can avoid, and we should be praising politicians who have the balls to admit it rather than denouncing them. On the other hand, he deserves a kick in the balls for the Medicare coupon nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/314 "2015-10-29T14:15:06Z")
I think Jeb was half focused on his fantasy football lineup because he just wasn’t fired up last night. The one time he went on the attack he did so half heartedly. Rubio smacked him right back down on the missed votes issue and Jeb had no response. The next time he got a chance to talk was about a stupid issue, fantasy sports. He had an ok answer, but Christie stole the moment for identifying it as a non-issue. So yeah, Jeb’s toast. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/315 "2015-10-29T15:47:52Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > …How long does he hang on? My guess is he pins his hopes on a NH comeback, fizzles spectacularly, and drops out immediately thereafter. That seems likely to me. Watch for the Bush family (Dad, Mom and maybe even Dubya) to be trotted out on the campaign trail before then. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/316 "2015-10-29T16:01:51Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > IMO last night’s debate officially kicked off the Jeb! Death Watch (or should it be written “Jeb:(” now?). Barring some crazy Rubio sex or bribery scandal or something, I just don’t see how Bush turns around the narrative that he’s been a profoundly mediocre, over-hyped candidate. The establishment misstepped early on, they bet on the wrong horse, but all of it happened early enough that they can cut their losses and go with someone else. This has to be the gold standard for a failed campaign, doesn’t it? Next to this, the Muskie campaign of 1972 doesn’t look so bad. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > In all seriousness, raising the SS retirement age is not something we can avoid, and we should be praising politicians who have the balls to admit it rather than denouncing them. Yes, raising the SS retirement age is something we can avoid. This is a very rich society, and we could afford to lower the SS retirement age back to 65 and expand the benefits, without doing any harm to our economy. The last thing we need to do is raise the retirement age even further. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/317 "2015-10-29T16:06:04Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > That seems likely to me. Watch for the Bush family (Dad, Mom and maybe even Dubya) to be trotted out on the campaign trail before then. I’m holding out for “A Bush Family Christmas” on the Hallmark channel during the holidays. Entertainment could include Dick Cheney’s ventriloquist act with his dummy W perched on his knee and musical guests Pat Boone and Anita Bryant. I’m sure that will give his campaign the boost it needs. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/318 "2015-10-30T02:38:20Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I’m holding out for “A Bush Family Christmas” on the Hallmark channel during the holidays. Entertainment could include Dick Cheney’s ventriloquist act with his dummy W perched on his knee and musical guests Pat Boone and Anita Bryant. > I’m sure that will give his campaign the boost it needs. Needs more star power. Maybe they could invite Clint Eastwood over to debate a couple of their end tables. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/319 "2015-10-30T03:32:35Z")
I hear he’s moved up to sectional sofas now. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672/320 "2015-10-30T04:11:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > That seems likely to me. Watch for the Bush family (Dad, Mom and maybe even Dubya) to be trotted out on the campaign trail before then. Would that help or hurt? Wouldn’t it just emphasise that Clan Bush is trying to regain power for the third time? And that Jeb! Doesn’t have enough wattage to do it on his own? Plus, if Babs is anywhere near a reporter, you know the question will be: “Didn’t you, his own mother, say that the US had had enough Bushes?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeb-bush-campaign-for-potus-thread/722672.md?page=17)