The “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC each devoted full segments on their Wednesday evening newscasts to a speech given by possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush in Chicago and how the former Florida Governor would be the latest member of the Bush family dynasty to run for president.
In focusing on the dynasty angle, however, ABC and NBC failed to even note that Hillary Clinton’s possible Democratic presidential run would make her the second Clinton to occupy the Oval Office.
Even though the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley was the lone program to mention Hillary and the Clinton dynasty, it was only brief and in the segment’s final seconds. Before tossing back to anchor Scott Pelley, correspondent Nancy Cordes stated: “Hillary Clinton will face a similar problem if she runs, Scott, and wants to try to set herself apart from her husband.”
Earlier in her report, Cordes touted how, for Jeb, “[t]he only thing trickier than stepping out of someone's shadow is stepping out of two” and that: “Being a member of a political dynasty has its upside including name recognition and a huge pool of donors, but it could also saddle Jeb Bush with some of his brother's less-popular decisions, like going to war with Iraq.”
NBC Nightly News featured a story from correspondent Peter Alexander, who advanced the point that “former President George W. Bush's experience invading Iraq more than a decade ago” now “casts a long shadow” over Jeb as he decides whether to launch a formal campaign.
Over on ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir, chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl played up the Bush dynasty (but not the Clinton one) this way: “There's no hiding from it. That's his brother, that's his father and if Jeb Bush is elected president, it would be three straight Republican presidents from the same family.”
Karl noted how, “as he gave his first big foreign policy speech, he wanted to make one thing clear” that he was, in the words of Jeb, “my own man.”
As the 2016 campaign gets formally underway shortly, we will find out soon enough whether the topic of expanding political dynasties in American politics will be equally applied to both Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton.
The relevant portions of the transcript from the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley on February 18 can be found below.
CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley
February 18, 20156:34 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: “My Own Man”]
SCOTT PELLEY: Well, today, Jeb Bush broke the ice on the subject of how his politics in the White House would differ from that of his famous father and brother. He created some distance in a speech today in Chicago.
(....)
NANCY CORDES: The only thing trickier than stepping out of someone's shadow is stepping out of two, in this case the 41st and 43rd presidents of the United States.
JEB BUSH: And I admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions that they had to make, but I'm my own man and my views are shaped by my own thinking and my own experiences.
(....)
CORDES: Being a member of a political dynasty has its upside including name recognition and a huge pool of donors, but it could also saddle Jeb Bush with some of his brother's less-popular decisions, like going to war with Iraq. Today, he sought to create some distance.
(....)
CORDES: Hillary Clinton will face a similar problem if she runs, Scott, and wants to try to set herself apart from her husband.
A partial transcript of the segment from February 18's NBC Nightly News is provided below.
NBC Nightly News
February 18, 2015
7:13 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Decision 2016]
LESTER HOLT: In yet another hint that he's going to run for president in 2016, Jeb Bush gave a major speech about the dangers confronting America around the world, but it wasn't just about that. It was also an attempt to set himself apart from two other men named Bush who have served in the Oval Office.
(....)
ALEXANDER: But it's George W. Bush's experience invading Iraq more than a decade ago that still casts a long shadow. Aides say Jeb Bush is consulting with 20 veterans of past Bush administrations, among them his father's Secretary of State James Baker and Paul Wolfowitz, a major architect of his brother’s Iraq policy. Jeb Bush outlined a muscular foreign policy including a fight against ISIS.
(....)
ALEXANDER: Today, Jeb Bush acknowledged mistakes with his brother's Iraq policy including intelligence failures about weapons of mass destruction, but he credited his brother for the surge in Iraq, calling it one of the most heroic acts of political courage by any president.
The relevant portion of the segment from ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir on February 18 is transcribed below.
ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir
February 18, 2015
6:40 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: “I’m My Own Man”]
DAVID MUIR: Well, now tonight to the careful dance this evening for a possible presidential hopeful, Jeb Bush. Embracing his family, while at the same time, distancing himself. What he said today about his brother George W. Bush and about Iraq and what we heard from Barbara Bush herself about another Bush possibly running. ABC's Jonathan Karl now.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Bush Dynasty; Jeb: “I’m My Own Man”]
JONATHAN KARL: There's no hiding from it. That's his brother, that's his father and if Jeb Bush is elected president, it would be three straight Republican presidents from the same family. So, today as he gave his first big foreign policy speech, he wanted to make one thing clear.
JEB BUSH: Just for the record, one more time, I love my brother. I love my dad. I actually love my mother, as well. I hope that's okay and I admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions that they had to make, but I'm my own man.
KARL: As if to underline that, Jeb acknowledged his brother got some things wrong.
