The Political Whore

By Ben Luongo
PoHo contributor

Jeb Bush spoke recently with the Miami Herald about our education system and offered that America should be open to learning from other successful education systems around the world and adopting similar working models if they apply.

According to Bush:

We should be taking the best ideas from around the world, tearing down the barriers to let these things happen, and apply them in a way that we move away from this homogenous type education system where every child learns the same way and learns the same thing.

Watch the video and read the rest after the jump.

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From the nascent Draft Jeb! movement. We can only hope the movement is limited to the folks in this photo, but knowing the state’s electorate the way I do, I doubt it.

Former House Speaker and keeper of the Jeb! flame Marco Rubio weighs in with another video from his non-campaign for the U.S. Senate. The only real question here is will he go ahead with a run against Charlie Crist (widely expected to seek the cozy Senate seat being abandoned by Melquiades Martinez in 2010 to die on the sword of conservatism against an the infidel governor??

Al Jazeera report shows carnage at UN shelter attacked in Gaza.

Headlines after the jump …

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This just in from Jeb’s camp:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JEB BUSH ON THE 2010 SENATE RACE

Miami, FL – This afternoon, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush released the following statement on the 2010 United States Senate race in Florida for Senator Mel Martinez’s Senate seat:

“After thoughtful consideration, I have decided not to run for the United States Senate in 2010.

“While the opportunity to serve my state and country during these turbulent and dynamic times is compelling, now is not the right time to return to elected office.

Read the rest of this entry »

And the drumbeat continues …

He hasn’t made his mind up yet, according to Politico’s sources, but:

he’s getting green lights from would-be contributors and blessings from Republican Party leaders.

Strategists and political observers take it as a sign that Bush will run.

“Everything indicates that he’s in,” said David Johnson, a Republican Strategist and the CEO of Strategic Vision. “You’re not making calls and laying the ground work for fundraising unless you’re clearing the field for your candidacy.”

Also explains why you haven’t heard anyone else jump in yet, as they wait to see if the 800-pound gorilla will show up to the party.

It was only a matter of time before major stars joined forces to produce Prop 8 — The Musical.

• Blame for the Mumbai terror attacks creeps closer to Pakistan.
• Speaking of Mumbai terrorists: Them boys was on some drugs!
• And now the new Secretary of Commerce.
• Will voters ever like Bush again?
• Obama breaks a campaign promise.
• Mortgage rates to hit 4.5%?
• Hot high-school trend: Self-embedding.
• The Bucs bounce Charlie Brown from ABC.

Here’s a wrap-up on what we know about who is in and who is out in the race for the U.S. Senate in 2010:

DEMOCRATS

CFO Alex Sink — definitely rethinking the race now that Mel is out. The Trib said she “is her party’s 800-pound gorilla – if she wants the nomination, it’s hers.”

State Sen. Dan Gelber — well liked in the party but not known outside of South Florida, despite his turn heading up the 2008 election cycle for the Democrats. A race against Martinez that would have raised his profile and set the table for a future statewide run would have been a better fit for him than a battle possibly against Alex Sink.

Allen Boyd — A congressman from the Panhandle whose name recognition statewide is too low.

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schulz of Weston — Her spokesman said she’s happy in the House, where she is a rising star in the capo regime of Nancy Pelosi.

Former Tampa Congressman Jim Davis — The Trib reports he is not interested. His name continues to be bandied about for Tampa mayor in 2011, although some believe he won’t run and is happy making money as a Washington and Tampa lawyer.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio — Uncertain, gave a noncomittal answer to queries.

Other names out there: Others: U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, Frank Sanchez of Tampa, fundraiser Chris Korge of Miami, Boca Raton Congressman Ron Klein.

Analysis: Sink has a strong advantage if she chooses to run, and she likely will, but expect other Democrats to get in as well, hoping for her to stumble or taking the opportunity to build their statewide name recognition.

REPUBLICANS

Former Gov. Jeb Bush — Martinez’s dropout changes everything for the former guv and presidential brother. Bush would have been positioned to run for president in 2012 if his brother hadn’t so sullied the Bush name. Bush is allowing friends to leak out his interest in the seat, and he would wipe not only any GOP candidate off the map but any Democrat as well. The seat is his for the taking.

Attorney General Bill McCollum — Propped up by the social conservative wing of the party, McCollum has been trying to get back to Washington since his days in the House trying to impeach Bill Clinton. He’ll run for sure unless Jeb! gets in.

Former House Speaker Marco Rubio of Miami — definitely interested.

Former House Speaker Alan Bense of Panama City — definitely interested.

Congressman Connie Mack IV — definitely interested.

Charlie Crist — Forget about it; Charlie is better positioned to run for higher office (read: president) as the centrist governor of Florida than having to play the Capitol games in the US Senate.

Congressman Adam Putnam of Bartow — Howdy Doody stays put in the US House for now and is eyeing a run for the Ag Commissioner slot in 2010.

Others mentioned: State Sen. Dan Webster, Fla. House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Delray Beach, Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, Congressman John Mica of Winter Park, Congresswoman Ginnie Brown-Waite.

Analysis: Jeb! is unbeatable, and if he gets in, there will be no substantive GOP primary. Running against him is a suicide mission that will be viewed as disloyal by the Republican faithful. Everybody else (but McCollum) is just throwing their name out there for free publicity.

Other coverage:Orlando Sentinel here and here; AP; Palm Beach Post.

I don’t normally post sports clips, but for this one I’ll make an exception. From the Pittsburgh-New England game from last weekend, here is Steelers safety Ryan Clark absolutely demolishing Patties wide receiver Wes Welker. (Expect a fine to be handed down by the NFL any second now.)  Give Wes some props; he managed to walk off under his own power.

• Republican Saxby Chambliss wins in Georgia’s Senate runoff.
• Jeb Bush for Senate?
• The Big Three return to Washington for another round of begging.
• The new Secretary of State might not even be eligible for the office.
• Pinellas Hope’s plan for wood shelters for the homeless hits a permit snag.
• Plaxico Burress suspended for the season by the NY Giants.
• Wallace/Howard.
• Jet lag is so 20th century.

The body of his brother’s presidency is not even cold yet and Jeb Bush is (practically) off and running for the 2012 nomination, giving one of his (increasingly less) rare interviews, this time with the right-wing online Newsmax.com in which he sets out the direction he believes the GOP should take:

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tells Newsmax that the GOP must broaden its appeal to avoid becoming “the old white-guy party,” and recommends that Republicans create a “shadow government” to engage Democrats on important issues as the incoming Obama administration seeks to enact its agenda.

Bush also said Barack Obama’s election was neither “transformational” nor a landslide, pointing to the huge advantage in fundraising that Obama enjoyed. And Bush had this warning for Republicans looking for a new direction:

Bush urged Republicans not to abandon their core conservative principles in favor of a “Democratic-lite” agenda. Still, the GOP does need to do some real soul-searching, he said.

“If you take the [last] two election cycles, there’s real cause for concern, no question about it,” he said.

There is good news for Republicans, Bush said: The United States remains “basically a center-right country.” He cited President-elect Barack Obama’s stance on taxes as an example.

“Who would have thought the so-called liberal candidate would be the one advocating tax cuts, and attacking the Republican candidate for tax hikes — which wasn’t true, but was effective when you consider he was outspending Sen. McCain by five to one.”

Oh, and be a little more tolerant, he adds:

“We can’t ignore large segments of our population and expect to win,” Bush said. “We can’t be the ‘old white-guy’ party. It’s just not going to work, the demographics go against us in that regard.

“Among Hispanic voters, I think we need to change the tone of the conversation as it relates to immigration. In Florida, we’ve not participated much in the chest pounding and the yelling and the screaming. I mean, it just drives me nuts when there are substantive policy differences that we can show mutual respect on, but the tone needs to change. And I think we need to recruit more candidates who share our values in the Hispanic community. In Florida we’ve done that.”

Jeb!’s education reform think-tank, Foundation for Florida’s Future, quickly shared excerpts of the article with an e-mail blast.

And how good is that hard-charging “journalism” at Newsmax? Here’s the only mention of the fact that Jeb! could be looking to add a third Bush to the presidential rolls: “who frequently is mentioned as a top-tier GOP presidential prospect.”

Video here.

Our former gov, Jeb Bush, is speaking out against expanding gambling in Florida, telling the Florida Baptist Witness:

… gambling expansion is a “narcotic” state leaders should reject even though the “allure of gambling is probably even stronger today” with the state budget deficit.

Gambling can be opposed for moral, economic, fairness or social costs reasons, but the “combination of all of them” make for a “very compelling argument” against expansion, Bush said.

“I think gambling is a vivid example of a culture that demands immediate gratification,” giving an “impression that you can achieve things without work” and “that luck matters,” Bush said. As such, gambling is a “deterrence for true economic development.”

According to Bush, “the bottom line is that this is a money-making enterprise for a select few that do really, really well at the expense of the communities” where they exist.

Bush continues that the drive to expand gambling is not “unstoppabl” but he is careful not to criticize his successor, Charlie Crist, directly, saying there may be circumstances that he is not privvy to.

How about a state economy that is in shambles, education reforms that have done nothing to make public schools better or more accountable and a lingering land-hucksterism that Bush did nothing to curb in his eight years in the gov’s mansion in Tallahassee?

I especially love Jeb!’s overall assessment of how our state should be, as elucidated in the FBW lede:

If the Sunshine State had a mission statement it should be “Florida is a family-friendly, wholesome, prosperous place” and “gambling doesn’t have a part in that,” former Gov. Jeb Bush told Florida Baptist Witness in an exclusive interview.

Make that quote “heterosexual, traditional nuclear family-friendly, wholesome prosperous for connected land developers place.”

(photo courtesy of Adrian Sampson) 

The Trib today weighs in on the exposure that Hillsborough County and the Hillsborough school system face in the declining lack of confidence in the state investment fund. The two governments have a combined $1.4 billion deep into the fund, which has a large exposure in mortgage-backed investments. A run on the fund by nervous local goverments was halted last week before the two governments could make their withdrawal:

For 25 years, the SBA fund has been a place where local governments sent large pools of their money and got even more in return. Recently, concerns about mortgage-backed securities led many governments to withdraw their shares from the fund. The governments removed $10 billion within two weeks, prompting state officials to halt withdrawals Nov. 29.

Transactions will be allowed again today, although state leaders on Tuesday placed a cap on how much governments can remove.

While 86 percent of the $14 billion in investments is considered safe, neither state nor local leaders yet can say how much, if anything, they will lose from the remaining, tainted 14 percent of investments.

One observation: a snarky “once again Hillsborough is behind the curve,” and a question: “Isn’t this mess something we can lay at the feet of our former governor, Jeb!, please please please?”

Forbes wonders that as well. In a story headlined “Where was Jeb?” the business mag points out:

A majority of this paper was sold to SBA by Lehman Brothers. Bush, as the state’s top elected official, served on a three-member board that oversaw the SBA until he retired as governor in January. In August, Bush was hired as a consultant to the bank. Lehman spokesperson Kerrie Cohen, speaking on behalf of Bush, said they had no comment and would not say when the bank had sold Florida the paper. SBA did not return calls.

While SBA wouldn’t confirm, Bloomberg reported the amount of debt in default is around $900 million.

Was Jeb! following in the financial footsteps of brother Neil?