“It won’t hurt him nationally, because education is one of those issues that you do see a lot of cohesiveness on – with the exception of how to pay for it,” says Susan MacManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida in Tampa…

Perhaps it’s a sign that Bush thinks Obama will be hard to beat, and so he might as well take advantage of the spotlight when it’s offered. He’s not saying.

One thing is for sure: If Bush has any say in the matter, there won’t be a photo op of Obama giving him a big hug, a la former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, whose embrace with Obama dealt a mortal blow to his Senate campaign.