Joe Scarborough has a warning for conservatives: going after Jeb Bush will make him more likely to run for president.
According to Scarborough, speaking on today's Morning Joe, Jeb is "his mother's son," "kind of "cranky" and "rough around the edges." If conservatives think they will drive Jeb out of the race by attacking him, "they've got him played exactly backwards." To the contrary, conservative attacks will make Jeb more likely to run "to prove them wrong."
Joe offered his take as a fellow Floridian and long-time observer of Jeb. He cited the example of Bush's fearlessness as governor, taking on the teachers' unions and flaunting his support for vouchers.
Note: one person unlikely to take Scarborough's advice is our own L. Brent Bozell III, founder and President of NewsBusters' parent, Media Research Center. Just today, here's how Bloomberg quotes Bozell on Jeb:
“He’s not even a moderate, he’s a liberal Republican,” said Brent Bozell, head of ForAmerica, a Tea Party group that specializes in social media campaigns. “He’s running on Common Core and amnesty. These are issues that Obama supports. It boggles the mind that anyone would consider him conservative.”
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JIM VANDEHEI: The question is, can he really, Jeb Bush, can really overcome his position on immigration, his position on at least flirting with the idea of potential tax increases, and then, Common Core, at a time when -- those are three issues that the base cares so much about. Look at what Walker said yesterday, look at what Cruz said yesterday, look at what Rand Paul said: they all went after him on Common Core.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: I will say this about Jeb, There are a lot of candidates that would be scared to jump into that fight --
VANDEHEI: -- he's not.
SCARBOROUGH: He's not, no. I followed him very closely in Florida. He caught so much hell for taking on teachers' unions and vouchers. And he'd go around like this [flashes V sign]: V is for voucher, it's not for victory. And I want to say this to conservatives, I just want to warn conservatives: the nastier you get to Jeb Bush, the more you piss him off, and the more likely it is Jeb will run to show you, to prove you wrong. And that's just the truth. He's his mother's son. He's kind of cranky. He's a little rough around the edges personally in one-on-one contacts. He's not a back slapper. And if conservatives think they're going to drive him out of the race by saying nasty things about him, they've got him played exactly backwards.
