Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Zev Chafets of the New York Daily News thinks we haven't seen the last Bush presidential campaign:

...Even before this year's election, Jeb Bush was being asked about his aspirations. On Oct. 17, he declared on ABC, "I'm not going to run in 2008. That's not my interest."

But last week, in a meeting with The Washington Times editorial board, Ken Mehlman, the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, put Jeb back in the race.

Responding to a question, Mehlman mentioned eight potential candidates for 2008: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Virginia Sen. George Allen, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, Arizona Sen. John McCain, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, George Pataki, Rudy Giuliani - and Jeb Bush.

...Mehlman is not a neutral commentator. He works for George Bush. If the President's brother were really out of the running, the RNC chairman would not mention him.

In fact, the Bushes have been thinking about Jeb's candidacy for years.

One of the main reasons Dick Cheney got a second term was to make sure there would not be an incumbent vice president with presidential ambitions in 2008....


Is it possible? Could a Jeb campaign really get traction, given the infidelity rumors, the connections to anti-Castro white-collar crooks and terrorists, the iconic mug shot of drug-addled daughter Noelle?

And could Jeb fulfill what I suspect is the family's most fervent wish, by keeping the seat warm until 2016, the year his son George P. (the Little Brown One) turns forty (barely younger than JFK when he ran in '60), by which time, presumably, P's 1994 girlfriend-stalking incident will be seen as a "youthful indiscretion"?

Sure. Why not? We just voted in George W. Bush, the worst president of all time, so anything's possible, isn't it?

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