The Bush Family Stamping on a Human Face Forever
Faiz Shakir has George P. Bush laying the groundwork for his presidential primary big in 2032 or 2036:
Afterward, Bush said he doesn’t think Crist is a fiscal conservative and that he may have hurt himself with some Republicans for his appearance with Obama and his support of the stimulus plan.
“That will be on his track record and people are going to remember that,” Bush said, adding that Crist is running the risk of falling in the “D light” category of the party.
Just remember, the last time the Republican Party captured the White House without a member of the Bush family on the ticket was 1972. It’s true that right now people hate the Bushes. But people hated the Bushes in 1993, too. The country has a short memory, and for some reason the GOP just can’t quit these people. It’ll be Jeb in 2016 and George P. somewhere down the line.
44 Responses to “The Bush Family Stamping on a Human Face Forever”
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February 22nd, 2009 at 5:16 pm
But people hated the Bushes in 1993, too.
Not like they do now.
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Can’t we just forget about Bush? The reality was bad enough, and now you want to pile memory on top of it? Spare me, please.
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Is the argument here that since the Bush family was successful electorally for a couple of decades, they’ll be perpetually successful for time immemorial? How did that work out for the Adamses, the Harrisons, and the Roosevelts? Or for that matter, people named “Adlai Stevenson?”
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:29 pm
The memory of Bushes past make me grateful for what we have now.
God bless us, everyone!
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Adam Villani,
It worked pretty well for the Kennedy’s (although their long term prospects don’t look so good anymore). Plus George P. is half-hispanic and in 2032 that will matter. But lets just hope the family does a better job prepping this one for public office than they did for Bush jr.
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Yes yes, and before that they hadn’t won the presidency without Nixon on the ticket since Herbert Hoover. So maybe they need to run the zombiefied bones of Checkers.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
And maybe, by 2036, being a partisan Republican who drinks their economic Kool Aid won’t be electoral poison.
Maybe, but it would probably take a little longer.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:04 pm
The country has a short memory, and for some reason the GOP just can’t quit these people. It’ll be Jeb in 2016 and George P. somewhere down the line.
Well, given that 8 years of GWBush has left us with massive wealth transfer, income declines, retirement account decimations, poor job prospect for recent college grads, etc – the Bush legacy has left a sour taste that spans the generations. If anyone with the last name Bush ends up on a national ticket in the next 30 years, she probably won’t be someone named George.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
The last successful Republican ticket where Bushes weren’t prominent figures in the party was Benjamin Harrison in 1888.
Samuel P. Bush was a major player in the McKinley 1896 campaign, and a close ally of Taft (the Tafts and Bushes have been closely allied for over 120 years now).
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
George W. Bush, who calls himself “43″ and his dad “41,” used to call his nephew George P. Bush “44,” which was a joke but made a point: that George P. Bush is the Designated Next Generation of the Bush Family.
A guy who went to school with George P. at Rice said he’s a nimrod, but the young lady lawyer he married strikes me from what little I’ve seen about her as the kind of dynamo who might prod him to the White House someday.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Hopefully the GOP won’t even exist by 2032. Regardless, we need to do everything we can to ensure that no member of the Bush family ever wins the White House again.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:09 pm
I too fail to understand the logic of Matt’s prediction here. Perhaps they’ll be back, and perhaps they won’t. The fact of George W. Bush’s emergence does not necessitate that a similar revival will happen again.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
George P. Bush would likely run for President in a couple of decades, at least in the Spanish-language media, as George P. Bush Garnica, the latter being his Mexican mother’s maiden name. The Bush Administration’s pro-illegal immigration initiatives are not unrelated to the Bush Dynasty’s Chosen Successor being half-Mexican.
As Bertolt Brecht said after a rebellion was put down in East Germany in 1953, “Wouldn’t it be easier for the government to dissolve the people and elect a new one?”
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I know observations about Matt’s casual typing are commonplace here, but “stamping on a human face” rather than “stomping,” combined with a nonsensical first sentence (”big”?), is all too much.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I had to check, because I wasn’t sure which of Jeb’s sons was the one arrested for breaking into an ex-girlfriend’s house (George P.) and which was the one arrested receiving a BJ in the back of an SUV in a public parking lot (Jebby) — the daughter, of course, is the drug addict.
Ah, gotta love dynastic politics.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Ah, gotta love dynastic politics.
Maybe George W. Bush = Charles II of Spain.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:34 pm
(the Tafts and Bushes have been closely allied for over 120 years now).
Yeah, but the Tafts seem to have self-destructed quite wonderfully.
“Regression to the mean” can be a beautiful thing.
Weirdly, the gubernatorial losses of Adlai Stevensen the IV and Hubert H. Humphrey III effectively ended their political careers. There were no second acts for them. By contrast, despite Jeb’s loss in Florida in 1994, he was allowed a second bite at the apple in 1998. This indicates that the Bush family isn’t just your average political family: they’re zombies who keep coming back.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Hey Rich, you smartass, the quote (from 1984, you know?) is “stamping.” Why would that even be incorrect? Do you stamp out a fire or stomp out a fire?
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Boy, for people who hate big government, they sure do seem to lust after it.
After a sufficient number of these Bushes, would Hu Jintao do us a favor and send us his grandson? Every so often, we need to find adults to run the country.
February 22nd, 2009 at 7:05 pm
MattY might want to consider something I predicted as a possibility a few years ago: P. will run as a Democrat. Around about that time, MattY will have gotten out of college (or something), and his support for P. will make his support for BHO look muted.
February 22nd, 2009 at 7:31 pm
It’s not so much that the GOP can’t quit the Bushes per se, so much as they need to find ways to make their policy agenda less threatening to ordinary people — and the sense of familiarity of running someone with a well-known name is one of their tools.
As everyone knows, Dubya would never have won in 2000 if he had a different last name (and the rough guess by uninformed voters that “his dad was president, so he won’t be a total incompetent”). Similarly, if it weren’t for that pesky Constitution, Arnold Schwarzenegger would have been the GOP nominee in 2008, and perhaps our president now.
February 22nd, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Weirdly, the gubernatorial losses of Adlai Stevensen the IV and Hubert H. Humphrey III effectively ended their political careers.
Bill Clinton’s gubernatorial loss in 1980 did NOT end his career, and he went on to the presidency.
If anyone with the last name Bush ends up on a national ticket in the next 30 years, she probably won’t be someone named George.
Kate Bush for President!
FWIW I think Bush 43 not only extinguished the line of Bush presidents, he ended the line of GOP presidents. At least I hope so. Seriously, what they have left is the insanest of the insane.
February 22nd, 2009 at 7:48 pm
The Bush family seem to believe that they are destined to be the monarchs of America. Kings and Queens is what they all want to become.
I hope and doubt that the majority of Americans has any desire for more of the “World View” of the Bush family.
Mad George “The Torturer” was one too many of the Bush “Deciders” for America. For the sake of our Constitution and freedoms we need to vote against any of their species in all future elections.
February 22nd, 2009 at 7:49 pm
As we all know, George W. was predicted in the Bible. Don’t believe the cover stories – W. stands for Wormwood.
So we will have to endure them for the next thousand years, I believe. At that point, one of the surviving liberals named Frieda, (the liberals will have evolved into small lithe little things living long lives, thanks to the socialist healtcare system they will enjoy in the shire of Canada), will be given the task of preventing Sauron Bush from finding the ring (created, in 2017, by Jeb, out of the bones of one of his mafia friends) and plunging the planet into eternal darkness. Frieda will have to venture into the dread Usazia, a land in which the population is mostly sallow, servile, and shortlived, under a privatized health care system that harvests all their organs by the time they are 30 and uses them to preserve the immortal GoldenParachutists. It will be an exciting adventure, but the world will be saved by this mighty, socialistic hero, if the Lord of the Liberals, the last book in the Bible, is right.
February 22nd, 2009 at 7:55 pm
As everyone knows, Dubya would never have won in 2000 . . .
As everyone knows, he didn’t win. People need reminding, though.
February 22nd, 2009 at 8:18 pm
There’s a threadful of people here who honestly believe George Will did nothing wrong with his “Green Doomsayers” column. As long as voters like them are alive, there is hope for politicians who pander to ignorance.
February 22nd, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Roger wins the thread!!
Not even close!!!
The rest of you kids have to take a step back and realize that MattY doesn’t know how to spell “facetious” but he knows how to be one.
February 22nd, 2009 at 8:38 pm
These are the people who come here to whine about spelling:
Nation’s Educators Alarmed By Poorly Written Teen Suicide Notes
WASHINGTON, DC—At the group’s annual convention Sunday, members of the National Education Association called for the formation of a nationwide coalition of parents, teachers and political leaders to address a rapidly growing problem: the alarmingly low quality of teenage suicide notes across the U.S.
“Not three days ago I met with the parents of a young man who chose to take his own life,” Riley said. “I was shocked by what I saw: a note that read simply, ‘Im gonna blo my head of.’ This sort of syntax is understandable coming from a first- or second-grader, but from a 17-year-old it is downright appalling,” Riley said. “What do you tell the parents in a situation like that? By all outward appearances, this seemed like a normal child. The poor parents had no idea their son’s writing skills were that poor.”
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30157
February 22nd, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Bring ‘em on.
February 22nd, 2009 at 8:50 pm
By 2036 they’ll be running an AI for President.
It might be named “Bush”, but I doubt it.
Meanwhile, Frenchy’s Adult Bookstore here in San Francisco now has this on the sign: “Now Bush Free”.
February 22nd, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Allen Iverson for President? Count me in.
February 22nd, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Matthew – I will just kindly remind you that people may have short memories, but the U.S. did NOT embrace W in 2000. Recall that far more Americans voted AGAINST W (Gore + Nader) and that Gore had more votes on his own than W.
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:36 am
Meanwhile, Frenchy’s Adult Bookstore here in San Francisco now has this on the sign: “Now Bush Free”.
Damn, that’s the one place I like Bush.
February 23rd, 2009 at 1:59 am
mk3872: Well yeah, but about half of Americans wanted him to be president, and about half of Americans did not want him to be president. The fact that the second group was slightly larger means that Al Gore arguably should have won, but George W. Bush wasn’t exactly a pariah for being the spawn of George H.W. Bush.
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:23 am
bahh… you`re forgetting your history Matt. 2008 was the first year without a Bush or a Dole on the ticket since 1972. Add the name Nixon for some real mind blowing facts. 1972 Nixon, 1968 Nixon. 1964 was the last real outlier Goldwater/Miller. Then you have Nixon in 1960, and Nixon as Veep in 1956 an 1952.
Without a Bush or a Nixon at the top of the ticket, the Republican party… Well there is no Republican Party, there is no Conservative leadership in America. It`s been those three families. The GOP faces a terrible crisis of leadership. If Jeb want the nomination, it`s his, because that is how the party works now.
Nixon and Bush, the last time the Republicans won the White House without one of those 2 names at the top of the ticket was
1928.
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:30 am
“Yeah, but the Tafts seem to have self-destructed quite wonderfully.”
Perhaps, but a Taft was Governor of Ohio 18 months ago. True, his term in office ended up being a rather grotesque and absurd failure, but nevertheless, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Tafts continuing to pop up in the future.
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:46 am
Is it really fair to say the Bushes were hated in 1993? I always felt like people considered G.H. smart, nice, but out of touch and completely incapable of handing the current problems. Far cry from hate.
“Without a Bush or a Nixon at the top of the ticket, the Republican party… Well there is no Republican Party, there is no Conservative leadership in America.”
Then there is no conservative leadership in America, ’cause you sure can’t call those 3 guys conservative. Wrong, yes, corrupt, probably, bad Presidents, mostly, but they only adhered to conservative principles at campaign time.
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:57 am
The whole “he’s 1/2 Hispanic” novelty argument makes me laugh and cry at the same time. If we are talking about a run in 2032 or 2036, I hope that there would have emerged other qualified Latino candidates by that time. In 20+ years America will look very different than today, so maybe the selling point then will be “he’s 1/2 White!”
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:05 am
I’m just waiting for the slogan snark: Vote Bush! Third time’s the charm!
February 23rd, 2009 at 1:52 pm
I actually wrote a paper in sociology class about the Bush family, and it’s an interesting proof of network theory.
In 1950-1965, the Republican party needed someone who could bridge their past with their future – i.e., someone who could be equally credible as a representative of their past as a party of technocratic industrialists and financiers from the Northeast and MidWest AND as a representative of their future as the replacement of the Southern Democrats. The past couldn’t be abandoned because there remained too much influence and money in the Republican party’s historic base (though nowhere near enough simple votes). Further, the Republican party, being a theoretically conservative party, generally would prefer that politicians who gave off the right “tone”, i.e. embodied historic memories or nostalgia.
There were numerous Republican dynasties who readily fit within their historic base – the Tafts and Rockefellers being only the most prominent. But there was just one single family that could link that past with the future: the Bushes (by moving to Texas and turning that state Republican).
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:21 pm
fuck you retarded numa numa fag
February 24th, 2009 at 1:59 am
the last time the Republican Party captured the White House without a member of the Bush family on the ticket was 1972.
Comments like this are a gross abuse of the statistics of small numbers and like most of the political media’s “rules of thumb”, is both utterly meaningless and nonsensical.
Please stop it.
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