Is there any place for Jeb Bush in the GOP?

J. Scott Applewhite

This post originally appeared on Slate.

Jeb Bush does not want to be vice president. That's what he says when he's asked directly, but he really proves it when he's talking about everything else. On issues from budget policy to leadership style to immigration, Bush, one of the most popular national Republicans, is a man out of step with his party. This does not mean he likes President Obama. He wants him out of office. He'd shove him if he could, for his repeated attacks on his brother if nothing else. But after listening to the two-term Florida governor talk to a group of reporters at a breakfast hosted by Bloomberg View on Monday morning, it's not clear how Bush could ever be the nominee of a party he says would no longer support his father or Ronald Reagan.

It's not just that Bush's policy prescriptions on topics like immigration and tackling the deficit are a challenge to party orthodoxy. He also describes a more pragmatic vision of leadership--where accomplishments are valued over ideological purity--that seems deeply at odds with conservative calls for maximum constancy. This is perhaps the freedom enjoyed by those who are not running for president. But the formula Bush offers does reflect on the man who is running: Jeb Bush is describing a hole in American politics, and Mitt Romney is not necessarily the man to fill it.

"We're in decline which distinguishes us historically from where we've been," says Bush, who sees the economy shuffling along with anemic growth for the next year, no matter who wins in November. His solutions for getting out of the rut are less policy-specific--he doesn't have a grand plan about Medicare vouchers or getting rid of the home mortgage interest deduction. He's more focused on the temperament of governing.

As a former governor, it's not surprising where he finds the best examples of leaders who are free of Washington orthodoxy and getting things done: "Just about any statehouse in the country." He singles out Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and Colorado Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper for their effectiveness. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also gets praise. Among his qualities: He knows how to "cut a deal." Bush is not making a pitch for moderation or watered-down conservative principles, but for conservatism that goes beyond a talking point.

"Ronald Reagan would have ... a hard time if you define the Republican Party--and I don't--as having an orthodoxy that doesn't allow for disagreement, doesn't allow for finding some common ground," Bush said, adding that he views the partisan sclerosis as "temporary."

"Back to my dad's time and Ronald Reagan's time--they got a lot of stuff done with a lot of bipartisan support," he said. Today Reagan "would be criticized for doing the things that he did."

If Bush is critical of his party, he is contemptuous of the Democrats. While he's vague about the GOP, he drills down to specifics about Democrats. In every detail, you can hear how they eat at him--from the Democratic members of the House budget committee "who just read what some 20- or 25-year-old has handed them" to the Senate's inability to come up with a budget.

President Obama's big failing, says Bush, was his refusal to embrace the Simpson-Bowles commission he set up to find a way to reduce budget deficits. It was a failure of leadership, says Bush, who argues that had the president fought for the plan and lost, he would not have suffered politically. "Presidents matter, and this president lost his chance to be a transcendent figure." Leadership, he argues, would have been the president's own political reward. "Had he tried with sincerity and tried hard, he could make a compelling case 'Conservatives are against me, they're not for advancing the broader interests of this country.' "

This is a common complaint about Obama's leadership, and it doesn't seem to take into account that Obama showed just that kind of leadership pushing for health care reform.

Asked to offer a bold example of presidential leadership, Bush pointed to his father's 1990 budget deal. It was undeniably an act of political bravery; the elder Bush betrayed his conservative base in order to reach a deal to reduce the deficit. "It created the spending restraint of the '90s more than anything else that was helpful in creating a climate of more sustained economic growth."

This is where the tension over leadership attributes becomes acute. Where Jeb Bush sees a signature act of political leadership and bravery, conservative Republicans see a great apostasy. This isn't just some passing historical moment. It is a signature betrayal that Republicans point to again and again. Bush is doing something akin to a Red Sox fan cheering for Babe Ruth's trade to the Yankees. Grover Norquist, the Republican anti-tax advocate, dismissed Bush. "He's just agreed to walk down the same alley his dad did with the same gang," he told Talking Points Memo. "And he thinks he's smart. You walk down that alley, you don't come out."

The Bush 1990 budget deal makes for an interesting historical test. Mitt Romney's campaign won't say whether he has an opinion on this historical turning point. During the primary, Romney said he would not vote for a hypothetical budget deal that included $1 in tax increases for every $10 in spending cuts. (Bush and Daniels said they would.) That would suggest Romney is in the Grover Norquist camp. (He has signed Norquist's pledge.)

So Bush would appear to be at odds with his nominee's worldview, except that Romney has also used support for the Bush budget deal as a signature test of leadership. When attacking Newt Gingrich during the primary, he singled out Gingrich's opposition to the Bush budget deal as a key Gingrich failure. Former Bush Chief of Staff John Sununu held a press conference to highlight Gingrich's lack of support. George H.W. Bush also cited Gingrich's opposition to the deal in his support of Romney. But according to the Norquist pledge that Romney has signed, Gingrich's opposition should be seen as an act of anti-tax heroism.

In the hourlong discussion of leadership attributes, Mitt Romney was not among the ready examples Bush cited when talking about effective leadership. For a period of Romney's career, the former Massachusetts governor presented himself as just the kind of pragmatic, results-oriented politician that Bush describes. His signature accomplishment as governor, health care reform, is exactly what Bush was describing: a hard-fought deal that achieved something even though it meant working with Democrats. "He was incredibly impressive, with his intellect, his ability," MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber, a Democrat who worked with Romney on the plan, told Karen Tumulty. "If there is anything that qualifies him to be president of the United States, it is his leadership on this issue."

When Bush did talk about Romney at length, it was about Romney's tough stance against illegal immigration. "Governor Romney has used [his immigration position] to connect with a group of voters who were quite angry, and it was effective," says Bush, "but now he's in somewhat of a box." While Bush said the angry portion of the GOP electorate that's scared about porous borders has a legitimate point, Romney's task now is to appeal to different voters, namely Hispanics. Bush's prescription for political recovery is for Romney to pitch a broader economic message to Hispanic voters.

Bush, who supported an in-state tuition plan similar to the one Mitt Romney attacked Rick Perry for promoting, says that he feels "out of step with my party" on immigration. He also has a larger complaint about the purity tests that rule politics today. "I would hope that we don't just all have to march [in lock step.] If I'm a conservative and someone else is a liberal, we're sent a little book that says you must not veer. You have to embrace the orthodoxy of the moment." Bush is not marching in line. The question is whether he's off on his own or whether the GOP nominee will take the party in a similar direction.

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[RollotheNorman]

Jeb pretty plainly says there is not. Fox and some of the other Party outlets were badgering him to walk it back, be he balked.

[dpenn88]

Anybody who is not a radical tea party extremist Obama hating Conservative is not a real republican in some idiots minds. I long for the Ronald Reagan, republicans. Where are they? Hiding and letting the crazies hijack the party, I guess.

[RollotheNorman]

You know, William Buckley must spinning in his grave at high velocity. He pushed the TP types out of the Republican Party back in the 50's. He dies and theeeeiiirrrr baaaaacccckkk.

[brwing]

Short answer - NO. We did not like his Dad's policies nor his brother's. We don't want the Bush "deals" if they water down the principle of limited Government, out of control spending, and tax reform. We also do not want liberal immigration solutions.
It seems liberals are trying to push the idea of another Bush (creating a dynasty if successful) because they either like royalty or they know an alliance with Romney will sink him up front. I would be very ticked off if there were a Bush VP or cabinet level appointee.
We do not want the same old Washington. Many of us conservatives think Iraq and Afghanistan were a colossal failure and mistake as decided and as managed. And I think Bush made a "deal" with Democrats to loosen credit for housing if they would vote for war funding - both looking the other way. I think this was the crowning blow to an unregulated fiasco. Fannie and Freddie were ripe for blowing up and that did it.
NO - we have had enough of the Bush's world view and policy. Were I Romney I would run the other way. If he does not recognize this as a problem he will lose. And that is what the liberals want.
And it is about time we stop pandering to silos of Demographics and start legislating and managing for the Citizens All. I know, you want them on the rolls to pay for social security so you can kick the can down the road. But they are already paying via illegal accounts and the Government is sucking in the money - no questions asked. Our entitlements cannot support this many people who won't learn the language nor do the paperwork. I resent they are being treated as virtual citizens without my consent.
But I digress - NO to Jeb Bush. Maybe he can find a foundation somewhere - but not in DC please.

[MurdochSucks]

Bush's deal got the budget back on track and contributed to Clinton's surplus. Bush Jr. saw it lost him the re-election so he swore to uphold party lines on taxes, military spending and deficit budgets. Look where it got us. That wasn't a deal with the Democrats. Both parties wanted to have people afford housing, that makes them happy and makes them likely to keep those in power in power longer.

[davcor2]

Yes, there is a job for Jeb in the Republican Administration . . . . . . . . Dog Catcher General ! Of course that would only be in the unlikely event M R wins . . . . . . .

[ksmit2]

George and Barbara Bush were some of the nicer people to be
in the White House. I wish them well and always think well of
them. When it comes to Jeb and his financial shenanigans, and
Neal with the savings and loan mess, I would hope that these
folks can be kept out of present day politics. If the average
person had done what these two brothers did, they would be
never be able to get a job again, much less public office.

[cvbnzcgn]

No, Jeb is an a$$.

[batazoidz]

With the 2009 Ankney v Indiana decision declaring every alien born within US borders Article II natural born Citizens and, thus, have access to the highest two offices in the land; I don't see how any compromise can be possible.

ex animo
davidfarrar

[ajk_cbsnews]

Today, I wish President George II could run, again!

[jonnyooh]

Mittens is George II on steroids and off his meds.

[MurdochSucks]

Yes, he would assure Obama another term. He'd get probably 10% of the vote in the largest landslide EVER!

[ajk_cbsnews]

Become an Independent, Jeb, STAND YOUR GROUND!

[thefatcat2]

LIKE - WHO CARES, EXCEPT DEMOCRATS
It will sort itself out -- if it needs to do so.
SO HOW IS THE OBAMA ECONOMY - WORKING OUT FOR YOU AND THE COUNTRY..?

[stevex47]

No, I like sending 750,000 jobs a month OUT of this country, than making 150,000 jobs a month IN this country.

I dislike Obama saving millions of auto jobs.

I dislike how Obama actually went after bin laden, instead of doing billion dollar deals with the bin ladens.

Ya, boosh and the nutjobs are much better than Obama.

[omnibus66]

A lot better than the Bush economy. Thanks for asking,