How Jeb Bush is tweaking his brother's brand of "compassionate conservatism"

Instead of holding out “compassion” through faith-based initiatives, or the promise of an ownership society, Jeb’s promise of “inclusion” is much more amorphous. It’s not a promise to be more solicitous of the interests of LGBT voters, single women, or immigrants than the Democrats. It’s more of a pledge not to antagonize them culturally — or at least not as much.

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The branding may not matter if Jeb gets into office. George encouraged some aid to Africa, but his presidency was hardly defined by “compassionate conservatism.” His faith-based initiatives eliminated some anti-religious discrimination in federal funding, but it did not come close to transforming the provision of social welfare. Nor did it evolve into a kind of federally funded theocracy, as critics feared. The ownership society blew up with the subprime crisis, hurting the most marginal homeowners.

But the branding is a good measure of where American political culture is today. Hillary Clinton is not exactly a candidate that screams, “For the little guy.” Not with the almost daily news of her mid-six-figure buck-raking speeches, and seven-figure donations to the Clinton Foundation from foreign governments.

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