Does Jeb Bush really want to be president? His repeated inept to mediocre performance suggests either a deep ambivalence or a lack of political skill.
First was his awkward mishandling of the inevitable question about his brother's Iraq invasion, which took him a week to dig himself out of, sorta. Then he undid his forthright declaration that he would "be my own man" by bringing on board as advisers people like Paul Wolfowitz, who helped brother George get the Iraq war started.
In various gaffes, he has managed to insult women, Hispanics, and Asians -- even though that was obviously not what he intended. One gaffe about "women's health" led reporters to dig up the fact that, as governor of Florida, he redistributed Planned Parenthood funds not to community health centers, as he claims, but to abstinence only education programs.
His mediocre debate performance was overshadowed by at least four other debaters. And now rumors suggest internal problems as three of his top fund-raisers abruptly left the campaign.
From presumptive front-runner, Jeb has dropped in the latest Quinnipiac poll to single digits (7%) in a three-way tie for third place with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
So far, Jeb Bush has shown nothing much to recommend him. Maybe the family should have listened when the wisest Bush of them all, matriarch Barbara, said: "We've had enough Bushes in the White House."
So I wonder: Is this the best Jeb can do? Or does he really not want it?
Ralph
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