Dragging former President George W. Bush to a campaign rally in Charlotte, S.C., former Florida and GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush started his last-ditch attempt to salvage his failing presidential campaign. Since launching his presidential bid June 15, 2015, Jeb wanted no part of the Bush legacy, told by campaign advisors he had to disconnect himself from his brother’s failures as president. Bankrupting the country spending trillions on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, “W” left office Jan. 20, 2009 with a 22% approval rating, the lowest in modern history. Bush approval rating tanked when voters figured out he had plunged the U.S. economy into the Great Recession in 2007-08, linked to massive defense spending, driving the national debt through the roof, running unprecedented federal budget deficits. After leaving office, “W” went into seclusion until now.
Hoping to help Jeb’s ailing campaign, “W” obliquely ripped into GOP front-runner real estate mogul Donald Trump, forgetting that Jeb’s problems were related to his abysmal performance as president. Opening up the can of worms at the Feb. 13 debate, Trump reminded voters what life was like under Bush-43 continuing the Iraq War’s legacy, destabilizing and flooding the Mideast with Islamic terrorists. Speaking in Charlotte, neither Jeb nor “W” mentioned anything about the past economic and foreign policy messes under the last Bush presidency. Jeb had nothing to lose at this point putting his brother back before a partisan GOP crowd, looking more aged and haggard since leaving the White House. Reading from notes, “W” sounded rusty, though showed his trademark self-deprecating humor. With Jeb’s campaign in trouble, he had no choice but to pull out all stops.
Much to the surprise of a partisan GOP audience at the Feb. 13 debate, Trump reminded South Carolina voters that the Bush legacy was one of foreign policy and economic disaster. Trump’s the first Republican to admit publicly what everyone knows and won’t say: That “W” sent the GOP into a political death spiral with his failed policies. Even seven years later, the fallout from the Bush foreign policy plagues the Middle East and U.S. economy. Once calling for “democratization” of the Middle East, Bush-43’s policy backfired, flooding the region with terrorists, eventually giving rise to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. After hiding the Bush name, calling himself “Jeb!,” Jeb’s decision to put his brother on stage won’t save his failing campaign. Only the media and certain pundits attached to the GOP establishment hope that the Bush brothers can make Jeb competitive.
When “W” ran in 2000 against Vice President Al Gore, the nation was fatigued of former President Bill Clinton. Trump reminded former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton after she accused the former reality TV star of acting sexist, that Bill was the epitome of sexism with his disgraceful affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton fatigue—and maybe some election shenanigans in South Florida when Jeb was governor—helped put “W” in the White House. While despised by the GOP, President Barack Obama hasn’t disgraced the Oval Office, hurting Democratic candidates’ chances. Bad publicity hurts both parties. “We need someone who can fix the problems that cause our anger and frustration . . . and that’s Jeb Bush,” said “W.” GOP voters have to be amnesic not to recall “W’s” failed foreign policy and economic disaster.
Hoping to get some nostalgia from his brother, Jeb knows that it’s do-or-die in South Carolina. Even with his prodigious Super-PAC, GOP donors don’t like to throw money down a rat hole. Running in fourth or fifth place in South Carolina, Jeb would have to make a miraculous comeback to keep going. Whether admitted to or not, the vast majority of South Carolina GOP voters don’t want a return to the Bush-43 days. Jeb touts himself with his foreign policy savvy, telling voters at the Feb. 13 CBS debate that the U.S. cannot ally itself with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “W,” to his credit, worked hard over two terms to maintain a détente with Moscow. Trump pointed out that Jeb’s backing the Saudi-Turkey-backed proxy war to topple Syrian President Bashar-al Assad would repeat the same mistake in Iraq and keep terrorist chaos in the Middle East for generations.
On stage with the Bush brothers in Charlotte was Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), whose presidential campaign ended Dec. 21, 2015, polling less than one percent. Graham called Trump a “jackass,” doing anything possible to take down the GOP front-runner. What Graham and other mainstream Republicans don’t get is that the Fox News experiment has failed. When 75-year-old Fox New President Roger Ailes posted snarky Tweets against Trump Jan. 26, it prompted Trump to cancel his appearance at Jan. 28 Fox News Iowa debate. Voters have grown disgusted with Washington’s gridlock, looking for something new in 2016. Campaigning with “W,” Jeb offers more-of-the-same, something voters have rejected in this presidential cycle. “Strength is not empty rhetoric,” said “W,” taking a veiled swipe at Trump. What the Bush brothers don’t get is that voters don’t want to look back.
