Earlier this year, Jeb Bush told ABC that both his father George H.W. Bush, and brother George W. recommended he run for president in 2016. Mama Barbara Bush is not keen on the idea, declaring in April that “the nation’s probably had enough Bushes.”
But in the constantly shifting equations of potential Republican hopefuls for future president and vice president, the former Florida governor’s name has been tied with another former governor: Sarah Palin.
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The pair have now been framed as a “the GOP’s only chance” in the race by American Thinker contributor Michael Sheppard.
“Would Jeb Bush have as good a chance, or better, than any other prospective GOP candidate? Most certainly he might. As a popular governor of Florida, married to a Hispanic, and who garnered a good proportion of the Hispanic vote, Bush would be in a strong position to carry the state,” he says, reasoning that Mr. Bush, as a southern governor, could also hold sway in Virginia and appeal to Iowa evangelicals and centrist voters in New Hampshire.
Should Hillary Clinton emerge as the Democratic candidate, it could also improve Mr. Bush’s “electability”. Then there is the Palin factor, Mr. Sheppard says. She brings ardent fans with her, of course.
“A Jeb Bush/president - Sarah Palin/vice-president ticket covers all the Electoral College, Evangelical, pro-life, centrist-conservative, experienced governorships, male/female bases,” he notes.
“Both are strongly vetted and most certainly there is nothing in Palin’s life that has not be diced and sliced, disproved and shown to be a product of leftist hate. Even in liberal circles there has been grudging acceptance that Jeb Bush ran a successful administration in Florida and that he is ‘not George W.’ “
Mr. Sheppard continues, “Palin is not the media neophyte she was in 2008, and never again would be the subject of the astonishing MSM/Blogosphere hate and ambush that she was then. A Bush/Palin team would be a candidacy of ideas, from experienced campaigners, which would have to be addressed by the opposition media and Dem’s without the distraction of lurid media ‘scandals’.”
He ultimately concludes, “The Palin/Bush pairing would see the rifts in the GOP healed over, a united team with massive resources in finance, manpower and credibility, and a very real path to Electoral College victory - an historic compromise for the restoration of a conservative America. All this is moot of course if the immigration crisis splits the GOP asunder - which might well lead be a Bush versus Palin primary campaign.”
But hey. If vice president, Part II doesn’t suit Mrs. Palin, there’s always the U.S. Senate. Last month the Tea Party Leadership Fund launched an effort to draft her to run against Sen. Mark Begich, Alaska Democrat, in 2014.
“You and I both know that Sarah Palin is a fighter who will stand up to Harry Reid and his pals in the Senate to protect our Constitution in issues like amnesty, gun control and our nation’s crushing debt,” organizer Todd Cefaratti told followers in an email. “We know that, with Sarah in the Senate, conservatives across America can rest a little easier at night knowing that she’s at the watch.”
See Mr. Sheppard’s complete story here.
