The Case for Jeb Bush in 2012

Joshua Green over at the Atlantic makes an excellent case for why former Gov. Jeb Bush represents the best candidate for Republicans looking to win the White House in 2012.

Green reviewed the pack and PACs of 2012 Republican hopefuls, noting that former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts hauled in the most money.

Romney may have bested Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and the rest of the field. But another potent political force -- one who raised no money and has no PAC -- could still win the nomination were he inclined to pursue it: Jeb Bush is the candidate hiding in plain sight, wrote Green. The brother and son of presidents stepped back from elected politics after his second term as Florida governor ended three years ago. At 57, he's in his prime.

Green looked at the rest of the pack -- and found them all seriously flawed.

Bush, on the other hand, has a solid conservative record that wasn't compiled in Washington and broad appeal in a critical state; for a party conspicuously lacking a positive agenda, he's also known as an ideas guy, wrote Green. Bush hasn't followed the Tea Partiers to the political fringes -- he opposed Arizona's racial-profiling law, for instance -- but neither has he ignored them. On Monday, he'll appear at a Kentucky fund-raiser for Tea Party favorite and GOP Senate nominee Rand Paul.