Jeb Bush Ponders Florida Senate Run

UPDATE 12/2:

Marc Ambinder is reporting that Jeb Bush is considering a run for the Senate to replace the retiring Mel Martinez:

Two sources close to Jeb Bush, including one who has spoken to the former Florida governor within the past few hours, say he is seriously considering a run for Senate now that incumbent Republican Mel Martinez has retired.

"He is receiving a lot of encouragement from both in and out of the state," an longtime Bush adviser said tonight. "He is going to take his time and approach this very methodically." Bush will weigh, according to this adviser, how a run would impact his family, his business, and whether the Senate would be the best platform for the causes he'd advocate -- education, immigration, GOP solutions to health care and energy.

Bush did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

If he decides to run, Republicans expect the field to clear for him. Maybe. Gov. Charlie Crist, with whom Bush has not had the warmest of relations, is said to be interested in moving to the Senate. Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is weighing a bid, as is former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, Orange County executive Richard Crotty, and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack.

Via ThinkProgress, in an interview with NewsMax, President Bush's brother Jeb says the Republican party should not cave to a Democratic majority. Rather, they should set up a "shadow government" to provide a counter-agenda.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tells Newsmax that the GOP must broaden its appeal to avoid becoming "the old white-guy party," and recommends that Republicans create a "shadow government" to engage Democrats on important issues as the incoming Obama administration seeks to enact its agenda.

In a wide-ranging interview with Newsmax, the popular former governor and younger brother of President George W. Bush said the 2008 election was neither "transformational" nor a landslide. For example, he noted that Barack Obama's significant fundraising advantage over John McCain played a key role in Democratic success this year.

Bush urged Republicans not to abandon their core conservative principles in favor of a "Democratic-lite" agenda. Still, the GOP does need to do some real soul-searching, he said.

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"If you take the [last] two election cycles, there's real cause for concern, no question about it," he said.

There is good news for Republicans, Bush said: The United States remains "basically a center-right country." He cited President-elect Barack Obama's stance on taxes as an example.

...

The party should establish a loyal opposition and "organize ourselves in the form of a shadow government" that would address key issues, providing the public with "a loftier debate about policy" rather than mere partisanship.

Watch:

Read more of the interview here.

Comments

[Insightful]

Jeb Bush!! Another nightmare in office. Why don't these Bush men stay out of politics and just mess up the companies they run. George bankrupted the USA! Jeb is just more of the same. He was a radical fundamentalist when he was governor of Floriida. Why let him into any position of power? Their family history is completely tainted with scandal.

[OkieMon]

want to clean up the bush name.....i­mpossible dream.....

[LaFilleEnRose]

Can't these guys just live off of their wealth and leave us alone. First Bush - he couldn't tell that we had economic woes. One of his other sons was heavily in the savings and loan fiasco. And then there's "W!" Truly, I'm sick of them. Truly. ENOUGH ALREADY. They suck at business. And I don't want to hear that Jeb -- he's the one who should have been elected. With such brothers, I don't want to take a chance on another son who figures he's "entitled.­" Nor should Florida.

[skaterdon66]

as I commented last nite....yo­u libs need to get a life...If Jeb is as bad as all these posts
suggest, then he will NEVER win...

I suggest we discuss the bailout of Detroit's Little 3 auto makers..

[Changeizgood]

They are putting a stipulation in the LOAN, to unite or no money. They will become the United States Auto Company. They will be working for US. We want affordable green cars period.

This is our time to put our boot up the Oil Geizers arses. They reamed us while we were at war. Charged our soldiers and the army the same price for gas as in the states, when oil was only 10 cents a gallon in Iraq. They are the greedy triple chinned piggies, that care for no one, only quarterly profits EVERY QUARTER for years. We need control of our energy and it is high time we did it the right way. The auto companies had stock holders from the oil giants for years in their pockets and together they buried any green tech ideas, by buying them up under the assumption, they were going to market them.

the lied to us then in the seventies, and they will lie to our children int he years to come. If the ever get control of our green tech cars, it will be more of the same. I'm glad we are gonna prevent that from happening, by calling the shots. Execs are gonna be fired also. The hearings are on, check it out.

[neocon666]

Well president's out of the picture (his dumb big brother has seen to that), so he might as well run for the senate.

[SouthernJewel]

As a born and bred, many generationed Florida woman....I didn't like him when he was a governor and I'll do everything in my power to make sure he doesn't make the senate.

[potions]

It's hard to believe people in Florida are so dumb they'd elect anyone named Bush for anything. Do they just like criminals, are they in love with Fascism, do they hate their children and grandchildren? Just what is their reasoning for even thinking about voting for anyone from the Bush family. Either Floridians don't have the means to do research on these people, or they just don't want to admit the truth.

Every single one of the Bush brothers has been involved in, and often spearheaded, an illegal activity in this country. Why all of them aren't in prison is beyond me!

[Navision]

No, people in Florida are not DUMB. But, what we do have is alot of retirees and they still truly believe
that Republicans are for small government and no welfare. Some of them still don't realize that Bush
has been handing out Corporate Welfare left and right. Many of these retirees in their 80;s and 70's believe government is honest and that war is actually good for the country.
They are from the last century not this new one. In another fifteen years this older generation will have died off, if the Republicans don't get a new game plan they will die off too.

[gwhizz]

Don't forget too that many of these Seniors HATE the fact that their taxes are going to pay for schooling "other people's children" and latched on to Jeb's "let's dismantle public education" policy like white on rice.

This is why FL has the worst funded public schools (including Universities) in the country.


I have heard, in person, senior citizens who've retired here from (usually) Michigan actually say, "I educated my kids, why should I pay for anyone elses?"

Forget the fact that these uneducated "someone else's children" are the ones they count on to staff their nursing home!

[floridawoman]

Potions, I knew he was a crook when he campaign in 1998 for governor. Believe me, we did all that we could. He ran for Governor in the early 90's and Chiles beat the pants off of him. When he ran against the LT Gov in 1998, he barely won. Once he was sworn in, all hell broke out. We had a huge rally against the laws that he wanted to implement because they would cause harm to women and minorities. But that didn't help. The funny thing about him being elected, is that the very same folk that help him get elected, they too was laid off from their state job.

[littlemoon]

The "People in Florida" are almost entirely transplants from SOMEWHERE else... guess it's a conglomeration of the dumbest of dumb Americans.­..

[GTFOOH]

HAVEN'T WE HAD ENOUGH BEEDY-EYED BUSHIES IN GOVERNMENT?

[peacenlover]

As a Floridian, I am not surprised and in fact he will most likely win.

[1099]

He will win no problem in Florida should he decide to run. He was a good governor.

[jnickj6]

A Good Governor? Where? When?

As a former Florida native who escaped to the armpit of The South, I loathed that man. He was probably not "as bad" as the 2 former Governors, Robert "Censormatic--The Tax Man" Martinez and The Executioner Lawton "Electric Chair" Chiles. (I intentionally didn't mention McKay as interim, following Chile's death.)

No, Jeb Bush is just as bad...he helped his symbiotic-idiot brother become President by whatever means he used in the 2000 General Recount I mean 2000 General Fraud--I mean 2000 General Selection.­..election­.

[floridawoman]

1099, he was not a good Governor..­. I don't know if you lived in Florida during his governorship, but he was awful. He spend money on stupid projects for his buddies and outsourced needed jobs for Florida in order to make the rest of his crook friends rich. Do you remember when he bullied his way into a private family matter? Terry Sharvo? That was not his business, that was a family matter. He should have been more involved into his own family. (daughter stealing drugs, son caught in a parking lot having sex, and so many more incidents that I can mention). Remember when he help his brother steal the elections and brought so much negative attention to Florida? Had the entire country believing that Florida was a bunch of dummies? Actually, we were held as hostages, 1998-2007. We couldn't say anything negative about him at the workplace or have bumper stickers on our cars to support an opponent of his. (Rupublican) Several people loss their jobs because of their opinions of him. So don't tell me that he was a good governor. The worst Florida has ever had......

[gwhizz]

He was a *terrible* governor and is to blame for the mess FL is in right now.

I will give him ONE kudo and that is he was very good and proactive when it came to disaster management. (Ironic, ain't it?) He would be a good person to run FEMA.

I'll do everthing in my power to keep him out of the senate, but I believe that'll be a very, very hard battle.

[helenwheels]

Why can't the bluebloods like the bushes, etc. just be satisfied with their billions and just go hang out on their yachts and leave us alone? Why do they feel the need to keep imposing themselves upon us like a plague?

[BalancedEgg]

Shadow governments? Political campaigns? Those sorts of things cost money and in these economic times....o­h, thats right, his brother and friends just spent 8 years robbing and pilaging the country. He can afford it.

[Jo Manning]

He was a miserable governor who managed to alienate a lot of people. He should retire somewhere and count his money.

[mariog]

You thought the Clintons felt they are entitled, but in reality it's the Bushes who think they are entitled. A show government indeed.

[nutty4tahoe]

What is going on? Can't those Bushies understand what the 2006 and 2008 elections meant? Why oh why would any self-respecting Floridian who cares about his state AND his country elect another Bush? Do you really want the guy who manipulated your votes to "elect" his brother and the guy who tried to intervene in the very personal Terry Schiavo case to be your next senator? Doesn't his association with Lehman Brothers send a shiver up your spine? What about his other (current) associations? What about his lawbreaking family? To those who say he doesn't have much baggage for a Bush, I completely disagree. To those who will vote for him anyway, I say there are none so blind as those who will not see.

Oh well, he'll get at least one endorsement, from an ex-pres no less (although one who should be run up on charges). OJ's permanent (though not current) residence is in Florida, maybe Jeb'll get his endorsement too.

[wadda]

Mel steps down to make room for Jeb, that's the way the mob works