Conservative leaders who had a hand in the key Republican victories including Ronald Reagan’s presidency, the Contract with America and the birth of the Tea Party, are ganging up to oppose a Jeb Bush presidential bid, declaring him easier to beat than Bob Dole or John McCain.
“I don’t know of any conservatives who are supporting him,” said Richard Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com.
“Jeb is a very good moderate Democrat,” added top-rated talk radio host Mark Levin. “He’s very boring. He doesn’t elicit excitement and energy outside a very small circle of wealthy corporatists and GOP Beltway operatives. Time to move on.”
The criticism of Bush, a media darling and leading centrist GOP potential presidential candidate, took off when Phyllis Schlafly updated her 50-year-old conservative manifesto, A Choice Not an Echo, with a slap at Bush.
In her latest revision, provided to the Washington Examiner, she wrote: “Do you get the message that the media buildup for Jeb Bush has begun and that the 2016 Republican National Convention may nominate another establishment loser, the next one in line? But it doesn’t have to be.”
Many conservatives are critical of Bush’s support for Common Core educational standards and immigration reform.
But his biggest hurdle may be his last name.
“The objection so many Reaganites have to another Bush is because he is another Bush,” said Reagan biographer Craig Shirley. “He, too, has an alarming belief in centralized authority. From the standpoint of history, the Bush family got their start in 1980 opposing Reagan and Reaganism, as they continue to do today.”
“We just don’t trust him,” said Viguerie, who favors Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. “Conservatives are going to be very, very critical of Jeb, not only for the sins of the father and brother, but also for his own views.”
REVEALED: PHOTOS OF HITLER’S NIECE-LOVER
A just-revealed, one-of-a-kind photo album presented to Adolf Hitler shows just how close and cozy he was with his young half-niece, Geli Raubal, the Nazi madman’s mistress whom he later declared was his only true love.
The photos, never expected to be seen by the public, were in an album presented to Hitler on his 44th birthday, two years after Raubal killed herself with his Walther pistol, sending him into a deep depression.
“This album was clearly prepared in homage to Raubal, as she appears in almost every image,” said Bill Panagopulos, president of Maryland’s Alexander Historical Auctions, the nation’s leading auction house for World War II artifacts. One image shows Hitler asleep in a lounge chair beside her, he said.
Alexander is making plans to auction the photo album for the first time this month. The book is expected to sell for $15,000 to $20,000.
NEW HOPE FOR CRUMBLING AIRPORTS
With Republicans taking full control of Congress in January, longtime advocates of fixing the nation’s aging airports, seaports and rail stations are feeling hopeful for the first time in years.
“I think that there is an alignment now that hasn’t been there in years,” said Erik Hansen, policy director for the U.S. Travel Association.
With Democrats running the Senate and White House, he said, “If you send money back to Washington, you don’t know where it’s going to go. It’s not going to be distributed based on need, it’s going to be distributed based on politics.” Conservatives, he said, prefer to fund through fees and may give local governments a freer hand in spending their collections.
“Quite frankly, it’s a way that we can reduce federal spending but increase infrastructure investment, and that’s a win-win and that’s a strong conservative principle,” he said.
MCCONNELL’S STAR IS BORN — ON C-SPAN
The viewers of C-SPAN soon will be getting extra servings of Sen. Mitch McConnell when he takes over as Senate majority leader.
The public service cable network ran some numbers and found that outgoing Majority Leader Harry Reid leads the chamber in the number of days on C-SPAN at 244, the result of being the chamber’s boss. McConnell is 50 back at 194.
Having the top job means more airtime, of course, but the list also shows that many members have a knack for getting on C-SPAN. Quirky independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, for example, has been on 81 days, putting him at No. 16 on the list.
And little-known three-term Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania has been on C-SPAN 204 days, nearly three times the number of appearances by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
