I don’t think it’s possible for us mere mortals to imagine what it’s like to be the son and brother of presidents. For pretty much all his life, Jeb has been privy in the most intimate ways to the inner workings of the Federal government in a way that perhaps nobody else in America can match. (Let’s not forget, either, that even before becoming vice president, his father had a string of crucial jobs like UN ambassador, chairman of the Republican Party, ambassador to China, and director of the CIA.) Being a part of that family might, in a way, be more valuable experience than if Jeb had been, say, his father’s chief of staff. The truly important insights about governing are gleaned over decades of listening late at the Thanksgiving and Christmas tables, once tongues are loosed. “So-and-so’s a real son of a bitch, keep him close but don’t ever trust him.” Or: “I learned the hard way that the single most important thing when dealing with the Chinese is…”
And the third is, frankly, entitlement. Jeb Bush’s best moment as a candidate so far has been at the CPAC stage, where he held firm on his immigration stance despite tough questioning and a tough crowd. He didn’t try to finesse it, and his attitude was completely relaxed. Yeah, that’s my position, here’s why, but if you don’t like it, deal with it. You don’t have to be born into privilege to have that sort of attitude, but it helps. The case against democracy has always been that in a democracy, everybody looks out for his or her own special interest, and every leader is beholden to special interests; the case for monarchy, meanwhile, is that a monarch might be good or bad (and so are presidents and prime ministers!), but he is the only person who doesn’t owe anyone anything. Jeb Bush, because he is a Bush, doesn’t owe anyone anything — and that is a very valuable thing to have in a president.
Bush ’16, because democracy’s time is up.
