Does Jeb Bush have enough Bush-ness to topple Trump?
Feb 16, 2016, 5:32 AM | Updated: 5:52 am
Will the people of South Carolina see Jeb Bush for who he really is before Saturday? KIRO Radio's Dave Ross wonders. (AP)
(AP)
George W. Bush to the rescue!
It was in New Hampshire when we saw Jeb Bush finally acknowledge his surname, telling a town hall that, yeah my father and my brother were both presidents so I guess that makes me part of the establishment.
And the crowd didn’t turn on him for it. He wasn’t struck down by lightning. So now in South Carolina, he’s embracing his Bush-ness.
Related: Donald Trump proves nothing about how he’d run government
“Laura and I loved our eight years in Washington, but we really don’t miss it too much,” George W. Bush said during his brother’s Monday rally.
George W. had a little less hair than I remember, but he was determined to undo the hex placed by Donald Trump.
“These are tough times, but we don’t need someone in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and frustration,” George W. said. “We need someone who can fix the problems, and that’s Jeb Bush.”
He didn’t name Trump, but went after Trump’s repeated description of his brother as low-energy.
“Strength is not empty rhetoric, it is not bluster, it is not theatrics,” he said. “And in my experience, the strongest person usually isn’t the loudest one in the room.”
Look behind that self-effacing persona, he was saying. Ignore the wishy-washy body language. What may look like weakness is actually thoughtfulness.
“I’ve seen in my brother a quiet conviction and my hope is the people of South Carolina see this as well.”
The question is will they see it by Saturday? And will it be worth at least 20 points?
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Tune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.
