Suddenly, George W. Bush Is a 'Mainstream Republican' at the New York Times
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is attracting lots of media attention Bush for claiming that even conservative hero Ronald Reagan would struggle in today's Republican Party, a Tea Party-infused "orthodoxy that doesn’t allow for disagreement."
New York Times Political reporter Jim Rutenberg was intrigued: "Jeb Bush Offers Critical Views of Modern Republican Party and Its 'Orthodoxy.'" The online headline to his Tuesday story was more explicitly partisan: "Jeb Bush Questions G.O.P.’s Shift to the Right." A photo caption of Bush emphasized: "Jeb Bush, pictured here in January, criticized the current state of the Republican party for its strict adherence to ideology."
For the better part of three decades, there has been no more prominent family in Republican politics than the Bushes.
But tough talk about the state of the party on Monday by former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida -- who went so far as to say that Ronald Reagan and his father would have a “hard time” fitting in during this Tea Party era -- exhibited a growing distance between the family, which until not very long ago embodied mainstream Republicanism, and the no-compromise conservative activists now driving the party.
Funny, but Times Watch doesn't remember the Times thinking of George W. Bush as a "mainstream Republican" back when it was accusing him of violating civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism, and lying about the Iraq threat in a "rush to war."
Speaking at a breakfast with national reporters held by Bloomberg View in Manhattan, Mr. Bush questioned the party’s approach to immigration, deficit reduction and partisanship, saying that his father, former President George Bush, and Reagan would struggle with “an orthodoxy that doesn’t allow for disagreement.”
Going one better, he praised his father’s 1990 deficit-reduction deal, which drew the lasting ire of his party’s fiscal hawks for its tax increases.
Rutenberg fawned over Jeb Bush's immigration policy, which he suggests is based partially on Bush having a Mexican wife.
But friends say it is the party’s shift away from the sort of comprehensive immigration overhaul Mr. Bush had championed during his presidency that particularly pains the Bushes, who, for all of their differences, believe the system should be more humane for hardworking and law-abiding Hispanic families -- whom the Republican Party must court to assure its future success. The issue has particular resonance for Jeb Bush, whose wife, Columba, is of Mexican heritage.
After relaying former senior strategist Mark McKinnon's plea for bipartisanship, Rutenberg concluded with three paragraphs of opposing view from anti-tax activist Grover Norquist.
A related online "Room for Debate" symposium used Bush's statement to publicize its slanted premise of right-wing nuttery: "Could Reagan Lead This G.O.P.?"
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Comments
Romney is the Nominee
Submitted by libBuster on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 7:07pm.
Shift to the right????? Romney is the nominee.
That "ideology" = the
Submitted by rbosque on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 7:11pm.
That "ideology" = the Constitution and the rule of law.
Jeb
Submitted by lilium479 on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 7:46pm.
Stop the Rino spin. Reagan would not have a problem on the other hand you would.
Getting pretty fed up with what Jeb has to say
Submitted by tcm14 on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 8:06pm.
It's rich for him to support Reagan given that his Dad didn't even like him.
That's right I heard once that the elder Bush, when VP, once derided Reagan, saying "All the blockheads are with him." So it's ironic that the next generation of Bush is trying to paint Reagan as a moderate when obviously the elder Bush was trying to paint him as extreme.
It's amazing...
Submitted by CobraMan on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 9:01pm.
It's amazing as to how much these people know about the Tea Party, that they're all racists, that it "doesn’t allow for disagreement," considering that they never been to a Tea Party rally and have no idea what TEA even stands for.
In case you're wondering: It stands for Taxed Enough Already.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
You are right CobraMan
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 8:31am.
Fiscal restraint and financial responsibility are considered 'extreme' by this crowd.
Obama and his 'krew' wasting billions, maybe trillions on failed green energy, union crony-ism, back door deals, etc. is considered 'mainstream'.
It's a real bizarro world.
In power for most of the last
Submitted by trak65 on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 9:13pm.
In power for most of the last 6 years, the Dems have increased spending from 20% of GDP to 25%, run annual deficits of $1.3T, and failed to even PROPOSE any remedy (raising taxes on millionaires won't even come close). They sue states trying to stop voting and immigration cheaters. They parry school vouchers and charter schools. They protest modest efforts to rein in state spending even though they demonstrably save jobs and preserve vital services. They sit back while radical Islam builds nukes and takes over governments.
When Repubs don't go along or -- worse! -- object, they are vilified as "extreme" and "racist." It is stunning that anyone, even the media, can take these characterizations of republicans at all seriously.
they didn't want Reagan
Submitted by MidAmerica on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 9:26pm.
I became a Goldwater Republican at 14. The Conservatives have been fighting the Eastern Establishment Republicans ever since that time. The comfortable upper class represented by the Bushes is not what the mainstream of Republicanism is today. The Conservatives have been in the party as a force for over fifty years and the idea that Conservatives are the ones out of the mainstream is a line that is pushed by the Eastern Establishment.
What the Buishes want is a return to the days when being in office was a Gentleman’s occupation. That’s what brought on the GWB disaster. George W. retreated to the Whitehouse and never answered to the vicious attacks against him but on the contrary, maintained a politeness to his enemies that in the world of a Gentlemen is a commendable attribute but in the world of no boundaries politics it was the end of his political reputation and a disaster for the Republican party. We are still trying to recover.
I guess Jeb really didn't want to be Veep
Submitted by Cappmann1962 on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 9:35am.
But I like this line: "...exhibited a growing distance between the family, which until not very long ago embodied mainstream Republicanism, and the no-compromise conservative activists now driving the party."
"Mainstream Republicanism" = RINO. "Moderate Republican" = Liberal. "Compromise" = Do exactly what the dems want you to."
Conservative Activist" = True Republican.
Yeah, GH compromised and tried to work with the dems, and what did he get? ONE TERM. He ran the most efficient was in history (namely by letting the MILITARY run it), and got hammered by a smooth-talking hillbilly. GW tried to work with the dems and got absolutely nowhere. When he did what needed to be done, and did it efficiently, he spent the next 6 years fighting the dems on EVERY SINGLE ISSUE. He put up with vicious rhetoric and outright lies against him on a daily basis, STILL won re-election, and history is proving him to have been one of the best presidents in our history. There were many things I personally didn't like about Dubya, but he did a pretty good job DESPITE the democrat obstructionism.
Wait a minute...
Submitted by c5then on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 8:19am.
Isn't that what a political pary is supposed to be? A group that defines themselves by a certain set of political ideals, values or ideology. That's the whole reason to have political parties. Without that what distinguishes one candidate from another? Oh...that's right, the left doesn't think there should be any distinction. They think it should always be between a raving frothing socialist and a calm dignified socialist.
The mainstream Republicans have been infiltrated for decades by RINOs who want to move the Republican party further and further to the left. They have been fairly successful up till now. Isn't it interesting that the further a candidate and district is from a major city, the more likely they are to actually be a conservative. The rise of the Tea Parties has scared the bejesus out of many of the elder republican "leaders". They gave lip service to the conservative principles to avoid a split in the party and to win the 2010 mid-terms, but the fight is not over yet.
Now it's time to put up or shut up. Your legislative record and action will now be tracked and examined. You will no longer be able to say one thing while legislatively doing another.
The budget MUST be ballanced.
The deficit MUST be reduced.
Obamacare MUST be repealed.
Social Security MUST be re-invented
Medicare MUST be transformed.
and above all, the Constitution MUST ABSOLUTELY be followed and obeyed.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
More pap coming from an author who was a gossip stringer
Submitted by drsamherman on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 11:14am.
for the New York Daily News. Jim Rutenberg hasn't strayed from his journalistic roots at all. He's still a third-rate dirt slinger and he will remain a third-rate dirt slinger. On his off-hours, he sifts through wastebaskets and filters sewage.