The Shrinking Jeb

by Deacon Blues

The only reason for independents and crossover Democrats to vote for Jeb Bush was his (alleged) appeal as the “smarter Bush”, the adult who wouldn’t do his brother’s stupid stuff. Well after yesterday, that reason is now gone, no matter how much Jeb tries to walk it back today.

When Laura Ingraham can see right through your flaws and thinks you’re stupid, she’s usually attacking Democrats. Not now with Jeb, who made the asinine statement that he like his brother would still invade Iraq today even with what we know now about WMD’s and what the toppling of Saddam has done to world security.

All in all, despite assertions from GOP strategists that this year’s crowd of Republican contenders is high quality, I disagree. Where is the rock star among them who actually has solutions and can effectively reach out to Democrats and independents? It certainly isn’t Chris Christie, who this morning spelled out his appeal to the middle class: cutting taxes (what else?). Did Christie actually have a solution to raise incomes amongst the middle class? Nope.

Hillary for her part is signaling through others that she may embrace a far more aggressive approach to income inequality and middle class income stagnation than any Republican will offer, or any progressive critic expected. And if that means distancing herself from her husband’s actions that harmed the middle class, no one should be surprised if she does this.