During a panel discussion on NBC’s Meet the Press about the state of Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, liberal New York Times columnist David Brooks used a crude analogy to explain how Bush should turn around his struggling candidacy.
The liberal Republican proclaimed Bush should “lead with his strength, and just say ‘I'm boring. I’m boring. Is our problem that we don't have too much boringness? No, it’s we’ve got too much craziness. And so I’m going to be your sedative. I'm going to be a laxative, I guess, to calm you down.’”
Moderator Chuck Todd laughed at Brooks’ suggestion that Bush tell voters he will be their “laxative” and insisted “that will now trend on social media” before he allowed Brooks to give his actual analysis of how the Republican should turn around his campaign:
Well, we go to people that can’t do anything because they’re just screaming at each other, I can't scream, fine." If that’s you want, fine, but I’m the guy, and I like this slogan that they’re adjusting to, "I can fix it.” And so I think he ought to say that and be himself.
See relevant transcript below.
NBC’s Meet the Press
November 1, 2015
CHUCK TODD: You say it so easily but what evidence is there that Jeb is the most electable?
HELENE COOPER: I don't know that he is. I don’t know that he is. I mean, he called Marco Rubio the Republican Obama and I don't know that that's necessarily a bad thing because Obama won two elections.
DAVID BROOKS: But if I was him I would lead with his strength, and just say "I'm boring. I’m boring. Is our problem that we don't have too much boringness? No, it’s we’ve got too much craziness. And so I’m going to be your sedative. I'm going to be a laxative, I guess, to calm you down."
TODD: Well, that will now trend on social media.
BROOKS. Well, we go to people that can’t do anything because they’re just screaming at each other, I can't scream, fine." If that’s you want, fine, but I’m the guy, and I like this slogan that they’re adjusting to, "I can fix it.” And so I think he ought to say that and be himself.
TODD: Is it, you know, it was funny when I saw fix it I was thinking remember Bush post-New Hampshire McCain and it became "Reformer with results." There's a similarity to this.
ANNE GEARAN: Yeah. And the -- the campaign looks and feels very corporate, very Bush like. The Jeb can fix it sign was perfect. The staging this week in New Hampshire was perfect. He's got to live up to that. It may be an unfair thing to say that our candidates are supposed to be superheroes, right? And to your point, I mean, maybe his strength is to say, look, I can fix things and do stuff. I'm going to put my head down and do stuff and you should elect me for that reason.
MATT BAI: But fix stuff and do stuff is not a rationale, it never works, competence never works.
TODD: Right, ask Mike Dukakis.
BAI: And a whole string of candidates. I also just don’t think we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves on the moment of Jeb and Rubio. This is still a pretty early stage, and the Trump thing, the summer of Trump, as it's been called, really blocked out a lot of introduction and conversation of some of these candidates. There is a good field in there, there are candidates on that stage who will get a longer look. I think Chris Christie gets a longer look. I think John Kasich gets a longer look. I think Rubio is a very impressive candidate and Jeb Bush could potentially turn it around but I think that field is very dynamic.
