Jeb Bush, post-Obama establishment Republican

I think that Rich Lowry is right to notice the ways in which Jeb Bush resembles pre-Obama conservatives (like his brother for instance), but I think it is just important way to think of Jeb Bush as a reaction to Obama’s political success. Specifically, Jeb Bush’s strategy is based on how the Republican lobbyist and donor classes interpreted Obama’s 2012 victory.

Basically, the Republican establishment blamed their 2012 defeat on social conservatives and opponents of upfront amnesty for unauthorized immigrants. The Republican establishment asserted that the policy problem with Romney’s failed establishment candidacy was that it did not sufficiently focus on the preferences and priorities of the Republican establishment. That’s very convenient when you think about it.

The Republican establishment did not talk much about the economic weaknesses of Romney’s tax plan (which focused on tax cuts for high-earners). Like Rich Lowry says, Jeb Bush is ready to be critical of the Republican party. But he is much more ready to be critical on the issue of immigration than on an economic program that had a majority of Americans believing that Romney’s agenda primarily benefited the rich rather than the middle-class. Apparently for Bush, the lobbyists, the consultants, and most of the donors, Romney’s economic agenda wasn’t the problem – regardless of what the public said.