RSS Feed MenuFormer Florida Governor Jeb Bush pushed for the Republican Party to transform itself into a party of “21st century reformers” in a speech to students last night at George Washington University.
Bush criticized Republicans for giving the impression that the GOP is the “party of no.” He told the group that Republicans are often “too nostalgic” and that the party needs to be more “forward looking” in order to regain national success. Bush reminded the audience that voter demographics are changing and called for the party to become more “youthful” and to abandon their image as “the old white guy party.” “Tone matters,” Bush said, “in twenty or so years our country will have a minority majority.”
But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the party must move towards the center. When asked by a student if the party platform needed to become more moderate on social issues, Bush replied, “no.” Rather, he stressed that Republicans “need to apply conservative principles to 21st century problems.” Emphasizing “economic prosperity” is an issue which he believes can both unite conservatives from all wings of the party and attract new voters. Bush told the crowd that President Obama was turning the country into a European socialist state and killing innovation.
The former governor went on to say that the GOP must be the “limited but effective government party,” and stressed, there is no such thing as “big government conservatism.” Bush pointed to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels as an accomplished fiscally responsible politician, and urged Republicans to follow his example.
When asked for actual policies Republicans should be pushing, Bush called for “simpler and lower taxes,” and suggested a committee similar to Reagan’s Grace Commission to investigate and reduce government waste.
The students NewMajority spoke with were impressed with Governor Bush. One student wished that, “he would run for President in 2012.” A College Republican asserted that “Bush is a great leader for the Republican Party, he is a good ideas man, and he’s like Newt Gingrich, a powerful man behind the scenes.” Another student told Frum Forum that “Jeb seems a lot smarter than W., much more poised and articulate, I wish he was the Bush that achieved the presidency.”
ltoro1 // Oct 23, 2009 at 7:44 pm
ireign, for what it’s worth Jeb Bush was a pretty popular governor throuhgout his 2 terms, even when GWB’s approval ratings were in the tank.
ltoro1 // Oct 23, 2009 at 10:47 pm
ireign, I will take you at your word that his speach was empty rhetoric since I have not listened to it. While he was targeted by Democrats for defeat in 2002, it Bill McBride never came close to winning. Also, even though GWB had high approval ratings at the time, I really don’t think any help from him was needed. Finally, he was polling in the 60s at the end of his term in ‘06 so you could argue that he has a solid track record he could either run for office on or advocate policy from.
ottovbvs // Oct 24, 2009 at 9:28 am
26 ireign // Oct 23, 2009 at 7:35 pm
“The GOP must finally abandon Rove’s “Red States plus Ohio” playbook”
“That is nonesense. Sinz you keep repeating this but Rove would have liked to win all 50 states. Unfortunately, the country was so divided that there was a limited number of states in play. Rove was and is by all accounts a pragmatic strategist.”
………..Unfortunately, water runs downhill……..unfortunately, there’s such a thing as gravity……….and after all Rove has been such a huge success in positioning the GOP as a majority party……his works are all around us
“you actually have to back it up with polling data demonstrating that certain policies have popular support (something that OttoBS does not understand).”
…………How silly of me
sinz54 // Oct 24, 2009 at 12:14 pm
ireign: Rove would have liked to win all 50 states.
Obviously. But that wasn’t his strategy .
First, like any good strategist of either party, Rove started by counting which states were staunchly Repub and which ones were staunchly Dem. Then Rove also assumed that the Independent vote would divide fairly evenly between the Dem and the Repub candidates, in the key swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Then those states would be won by whichever party mobilized its base the best.
The result was two narrow election victories in 2000 and 2004.
The last time the GOP had anything like a real national mandate was 1994, with the Gingrich takeover of Congress. Ever since, the GOP’s national appeal has been shrinking.
Jeb Bush To GOP – Stop Being The Party Of “No” | QandO // Oct 24, 2009 at 2:53 pm
[...] I hear this all the time, and it is nonsense. It gives credence to opposition propaganda [...]
Jeb Bush To GOP – Stop Being The Party Of “No” | Financial and Economic news // Oct 25, 2009 at 4:40 am
[...] I hear this all the time, and it is nonsense. It gives credence to opposition propaganda [...]
Jeb Bush To GOP – Stop Being The Party Of “No” | Financial and Economic news // Oct 25, 2009 at 4:40 am
[...] I hear this all the time, and it is nonsense. It gives credence to opposition propaganda [...]
Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » Jeb Bush: GOP Can’t Just Be The Party Of No // Oct 25, 2009 at 8:35 am
[...] former Governor of Florida has some advice for the Republican Party: Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush pushed for the Republican Party to transform itself into a party [...]
DFL // Oct 27, 2009 at 9:32 am
No. The Democrats won big victories as the Party of No in 1958, 1974, 1982, 1986 and 2006. The Republicans did the same in 1966 and 1994. It is the time for the Demcorats to offer new ideas and the Republicans to fight them. The Republicans have been discredited by George W. Bush; it is time for the Democrats to enjoy the agony of governing.
rookie // Mar 4, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Oh, that’s great. The entitled one thinks that he’s the next President of the United States:
http://surftofind.com/jeb
THIS IS BETTER THAN FICTION !