One of many goofy ideas held by liberals is that it is a bad thing to have “money in politics.” They want to regulate it, tax it, and otherwise control it -- all in the public interest, of course.
The basis for their argument is the notion that money buys elections.
In that case, Jeb Bush should get his money back.
Bush has spent more than $50 million, almost half of his funds, and is stuck in single digits in polls. The polls may not be accurate, but Bush does not appear to be spending his way to victory.
Conservatives think issues have something to do with elections, while also recognizing that, unfortunately, personalities and other traits little associated with good governance also play a part.
For example, Bush's posture in some of his early TV ads may have hurt him -- the ones where his head is hunched forward awkwardly. Fortunately for him, his newer ads have fixed that, and he also spoke with a stronger voice to vital issues in the last debate.
Without having any inside info on his campaign, it seems to me that he is playing for the long run, with nearly a year to go, and expecting people now above him in the polls to fall by the wayside.
Poll leader Donald Trump could wear thin by next November. His appeal is that he is not a politician, speaks strongly against open borders, and doesn't give a tinker's damn what the media say about him.
Those are powerful assets, for sure. Throngs of voters are absolutely fed up with the political class. They also dislike illegal immigration, with good reason, and dislike and distrust the media, also with good reason.
What hurts Bush? For one thing, his name. This is nonsense and I despair that some conservatives make this argument. He is not his father or his brother and he would be the same person if his name were Smith.
More substantive objections could be made about his stances on immigration and education.
The rap on him about Common Core is a bad rap, in my view. He supports higher standards, as he did when he was governor of Florida. Conservatives supported that bold stance, now being emulated almost everywhere.
But a few are confused in thinking that Common Core involves curriculum or federal government participation. Bush has said he would prevent the federal government from taking over state and local control.
Unlike Trump, he scoffs at the idea of shipping 12 million Mexicans back to their own country. But Bush has a reasonable position when he says he would secure the borders and make it possible but difficult for those here illegally to become tax-paying citizens.
Job No. 1 for conservatives should be to take back the White House, not to demand ideological purity. If Bush wins the nomination, he could win the general election. It is the first step that may be the most difficult, and it doesn't have a whole lot to do with money.
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.
