A tweet from Public Policy Polling on Thursday:
Been asked about this 3x this morning, we are not doing any polling about Jeb Bush in NH or IA
Then yesterday, Dave Weigel reported that several people in New Hampshire had received polling calls in which they were asked about Jeb Bush.
And David Brooks, at the end of his regular weekly NPR segment with E.J. Dionne, speculated on the possibility of Jeb becoming the nominee.
And this guy suggests that Jeb could still win the nominee (in part because the Texas primary is delegate-rich, winner-take-all, and not scheduled until April).
What’s going on? And how amused/delighted/horrified should we be?
Polling Jeb Bush as part of a broader polling effort is a good way to get a baseline number. It lets pollsters compare how people feel about some idealized Republican who isn’t in the race to how they feel about the real candidates.
On the other hand, if people are being asked about Bush only, that could mean that someone is testing the waters.
We should be very horrified, because he’s definitely running. In 2016 though, not 2012.
Wasn’t the New Hampshire filing deadline weeks ago?
What is this, the third or fourth go around of Fantasy Jeb saving their bacon? Tom Wolfe:
Amused
The dems would make sure Jeb spent all of his time defending the Bush family obsession with Iraq.
Don’t think so. Here’s the relentless corporate media narrative of a Jeb campaign, whether in 2012 or (far more likely) 2016: “Jeb is not like his brother or father. He is his own man.”
As AG would say, bet on it.
Indeed. I just found I already have that embedded in my brain. 🙂
that line wouldn’t work. but this might:
didn’t make the Bush’s spend ANY time defending their obsession with Iraq once he got in the White House.
No, he focuses on the actual, existing political opposition.
Imagine that.
BUSH III: Fool me Thrice
The only way that any of them…especially George the Second…might use that word would be in a sentence something like “Pass me th’rice please, mother.”
If of course they even know how to use the word “please” as an adverb rather than a verb.
A verb? Yeah. Like:
“Please me once? Well OK!!! Please me twice? Even better!!!”
Like dat.
Please.
Just sayin’…
AG
Naaaahhhhh…I doubt it.
They were probably thinking more about another PermaGov frontman being elected no matter who it was. Obama, Bush the Third, Gingrich, Romney…anybody but Ron Paul.
Bet on it.
AG
As a Floridian I really think Jeb Bush would win if he decided to run. He is smarter than his brother and a better politician. The only reason Obama is likely to win is because of the competition which is the pits right now. He has pissed off every base of the Democratic party for three years and driven the right wing nuts bonkers plus the economy stinks. Jeb running would really be bad news.
I’m not pissed off. What does that make me? An Independent? I’ve voted Democratic every year since ’98.
Barack Obama’s approval rating among Democrats is 78%.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval_among_democrats-1046.html
Lemme guess – it’s the 18.2% that disapprove that are “every base of the Democratic party.”
Jeb could satisfy both their base and their Wall Street bosses so it makes sense from that standpoint, but I can’t see why he’d sign up for this beatdown – he’s smarter than that.
In bemused department –
In that same NPR segment Brooks trips over his tongue twice – something he is not prone to doing.
Once when he said the Gingrich got “dicked” instead of “nicked” by Bachmann’s Fannie Mae hits and the other when he noted that Ron Paul was “fourth rate” instead of “forth-right” in his views.
Brooks’ larger point was that the adults are coming back into the GOP game room and Romney is the only option.
Now in both cases Brooks immediately corrected himself (as if nothing happened and E.J. Dionne didn’t even snicker in the background).
But it makes me wonder if Brooks is in negotiations with Fox News.
Perhaps the polling is for the possibility of a brokered convention. Jeb comes in as a dark horse who is at least acceptable to the base, can self-fund if necessary, and who won’t damage the prospects down the ticket. In such a scenario, Romney agrees to be vice-president instead and devote his resources to electing Jeb, with an understanding that he would have a clear shot to the Presidency after a term.
not sure where the idea that jeb is acceptable to the base comes from, but it sure ain’t comin’ from freeperville:
i goes on like that for almost 100 comments.
so to answer boo’s question, we should be absolutely delighted.
Thanks for wading into the swamp so the rest of us didn’t have to…