Jeb Bush Seriously Considering Florida Senate Run

As President George W. Bush winds down to his final days in the White House, a “given” has been that his record unpopularity, coupled with the strong wave of anti-George Bush feeling that forcefully swept the country on Election Day, has forever damaged the “Bush brand” and that it’ll be many years before another Bush family member attains high office. Or dares to run.

Think again.

Just like Dracula Rising From The Grave, the Bush political brand is now showing signs that it will rise again — and perhaps quite soon.

According to The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is seriously pondering a run for Senate in Florida…and even a bottle of charcoal lighter fluid on the shelf at Ace Hardware can guess that his name would then eventually be mentioned in the running for the Oval-You-Know-What:

Two sources close to Jeb Bush, including one who has spoken to the former Florida governor within the past few hours, say he is seriously considering a run for Senate now that incumbent Republican Mel Martinez has retired.

“He is receiving a lot of encouragement from both in and out of the state,” an longtime Bush adviser said tonight. “He is going to take his time and approach this very methodically.” Bush will weigh, according to this adviser, how a run would impact his family, his business, and whether the Senate would be the best platform for the causes he’d advocate — education, immigration, GOP solutions to health care and energy.

Bush did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Ambinder says that if Bush does decide to run — and given a recent interview he gave, plus the fact he left office doing well in the polls it’s likely he will — other GOPers will likely leave the field wide open for him. Ambinder also points to an interview earlier in the week that Bush gave to Newsmax.com that sounded like someone who had no intention to sit on the political sidelines and who was thinking of serving his party on a national level:

Bush, in an interview with Newsmax this week, said that the GOP risked becoming “the old white-guy party” and that it ought to modulate the way it handles the immigration issue. Bush, who speaks fluent Spanish and won the support of a majority of Hispanic voters during his 2002 re-election bid, favors a comprehensive approach to reform. But Bush said that Republicans can’t give up on conservatism, and, in what might be interpreted as a dig at Florida’s current governor, said that Republicans “can’t be Democrat-lite. We can’t just ‘get along.” The words echo some Republican criticism of Crist, who they view as accommodationist in his politics and unwilling to push for real reforms.

And so it goes. This is a sign that a) Bush could well run b) he is going to be a force for GOPers to take a harder line against cooperating with or agreeing with Democrats.

In considering Bush’s Senate and perhaps long-term fate it’s worth noting:

1. His parents always thought he would be the one to follow “Poppy” to the White House, not George W.

2. Jeb Bush was a highly popular governor in Florida and, although some polarization swirled about some of his actions, he was generally well-liked and not considered a highly divisive figure like you-know-who. He was a conservative who appealed to some moderates and centrists.

3. Some writers believe he is closest in temperament and outlook to his dad, George Bush 41 (the Obama administration has some ties with GOPers who were part of or linked to the Bush 41 administration).

4. On the national scene, the Republican party’s perceived presidential front-runners are all people tied to the 2008 battle. Jeb Bush is hardly a fresh face, but he has been beloved by Republican conservatives who would have backed him in an instant this year…if his last name had been Jones, or Parker, or even Jacobson. He has lived under the Curse Of The Big Brother. In June Big Brother pointedly said Jeb would make a fine President one day…

Bush 41’s defeat was supposed to have set back the Bush brand. Bush 43’s virtual defeat (seeing his party defeated in November, his polls approach the South Pole, and historians rank him as one of the worst Presidents in American history) was said to have set back the Bush brand.

But it seems like the Bush brand is rising from the political grave.

Is that guy in the corner over there who’s smiling Karl Rove?

UPDATE:

–Hot Air’s Allahpundit:

I’m reeling, but that’s probably because I can’t get over his growing resemblance to Chevy Chase….He sure didn’t sound like a Senator in the making earlier this year, noted Geraghty this morning. Maybe not, but that’s probably because he thought his political prognosis was terminal. Now, suddenly, he has an opportunity right in his backyard, just as the cancer on his last name’s about to go into remission and leave him with two years to redefine himself as more of a Bush 41 than a Bush 43. No wonder he’s leaping at the chance. Exit question: Does Crist appoint him to Martinez’s seat if Amnesty Mel quits early, or is Jeb better off lying low for awhile to let Dubya fade away before reintroducing the Bush brand?

–The American Pundit:

Call me crazy but I think he’d have a chance. He won re-election in 2002 by 13% to become the only Republican to be re-elected Governor in Florida. He won a whopping 80% of the Cuban vote — a crucial block in the Sunshine State — and 56% of the non-Cuban Hispanic vote. He also carried 44% of the Jewish vote. Not too shabby.

Is his last name a hindrance? Sure. But I don’t think it’ll be as large of one as many think. First of all, it’ll be after two years of unrestrained Democratic control in Washington. It could end up being not such a bad year for Republicans. Second of all, Floridians still remember Jeb Bush’s time as Governor. Republican Charlie Crist — Bush’s Attorney General — succeeded him after winning by 7% in 2006 – a very bad year for Republicans.

–Group News Blog:

We haven’t even gotten rid of the one Bush and the other one is rearing his ugly mug again. I am so tired of these people.

–Oliver Willis:

Dang, if Jeb Bush runs for Mel Martinez’s senate seat in Florida I don’t think the Dems can pick it up, even though the state is now back in the blue column. That name is toxic for him if he’s got aspirations to the White House in the next decade, but it he left office pretty popular down there.

–The Miami Herald has the same info Ambinder has: it looks like it’s highly likely:

A source close to former Gov. Jeb Bush has told the Herald that he is considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez. Bush told friends he will discuss it with his family over the holidays and then make a decision.

The former governor believes it could be a prime opportunity to fill what he sees as “a void in Washington” and he would use the opportunity to talk about what the Republican Party stands for and pursue issues important to him like education and immigration.

If Bush decides to run, however, the source said, it will not because he sees this as a step to the White House.

(Ed. Note: If you believe that, then I can sell you THIS for $1.98…)

–Foolocracy:

Getting tired of the Clintons? First there was Bill as President, then Hillary as Senator and now Hillary as Secretary of State. The Clinton story has been playing since 1992.

Well, there is one story running a bit longer…like since 1980 and now it looks like there might be a new installment in 2012. Jeb Bush is sounding like a Presidential candidate and ready to carry the Bush name into the fourth decade of Presidential politics. Heck, the Clintons have only been around for two. Chelsea in 2032 anyone?

–The Buzz:

Hey, a political writer can dream, right?

Let’s stipulate that almost every name out there for Mel Martinez’s senate seat is rank speculation at this point. But the fact remains that on the Republican side, only two people — Charlie Crist and Jeb Bush — could effectively clear the GOP field on a Senate race, just as Alex Sink, to a lesser extent, would on the Democratic side.

And for either Republican, the Senate seat would be their best shot at a long-term political perch that ultimately could lead to, say, the White House. Plus, wouldn’t it be a fun to have a wide open governor’s race in 2010 if Crist did decide to aim for Washington?