I am excited to announce I will actively explore the possibility of running for president of the United States. -- Jeb Bush
With that, the former Florida governor set off a media firestorm in the midst of the holiday season.
There had been teases in the previous few months, but few expected Bush to be the first among about two dozen Republican hopefuls to announce a run at the grand prize of politics.
Included in the immediate reaction was a flood of invective, predictably from the left but also a worrisome amount from the right.
Columnist George Will praised Bush as being enormously talented but listed the three problems Bush faces: the family name, and his position on the issues of Common Core standards and immigration.
Of course the Bush name has been sullied. Anyone who is president gets this free with the job, and Bush has a father and a brother who have been in the White House.
Still, it is difficult to imagine anyone but the low-information voter choosing someone on the basis of what someone else did or didnt do, even though politics is more about perception than truth.
Common Core and immigration reform will present other problems but they should not be insurmountable.
When he became governor in 1999, Bush immediately proposed improving the public schools with standards and accountability. The Legislature agreed, and since then the long-stagnant public schools have been improving.
Other states took notice and the Common Core movement for higher standards was born.
But some people confused standards with curriculum, and when the federal government got involved some conservatives immediately grew wary of the entire movement.
Bush could employ a campaign promise to keep the federal government out, and to allow state and local governments to control education as they have traditionally. He could go further and pledge to reduce the current footprint of the federal government in education. Since it got involved, after all, public education has worsened.
Immigration is a tougher haul. But, again, Bush could focus on improving border security while finding ways to separate, and deport, criminals and nonworking people from those who actually want to be Americans. Some would still resent those who have broken in line but it would be a compromise, which many claim to favor. An emphasis on improved security could assuage those who believe, rightly, that amnesty would exacerbate the problem.
After the disastrous candidacies of Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney, the GOP needs someone of stature, ability, leadership and a proven track record as an executive if it ever hopes to regain the White House. Some on the right might prefer another conservative as the nominee, but if the final choice comes down to Bush or a flaming liberal such as Hillary Clinton (who has her own dynasty problem) or Elizabeth Warren -- or a ticket with both -- it should not be a difficult choice for anyone claiming to be a conservative.
Lloyd Brown was in the newspaper business nearly 50 years, beginning as a copy boy and retiring as editorial page editor of the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. After retirement he served as a policy analyst for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
