George W. Bush has emerged as among Jeb Bush’s biggest rainmakers.
The former president, who left office in 2009 deeply unpopular, including inside his own party, is proving more beloved in Republican circles than might have been expected. In particular, George W. Bush has become the Jeb Bush presidential campaign’s go-to surrogate for soliciting contributions from Jewish Republican donors, given the reservoir of goodwill his administration’s Israel policy earned him with that community.
“He’s become an incredibly active surrogate,” a Jewish Republican who supports Jeb Bush said Thursday in an interview with the Washington Examiner. This source, like most supporting or connected to the Bush campaign, requested anonymity in order to speak candidly about what the 43rd president has been doing to boost his brother’s White House bid.
George W. Bush’s image has recovered over the past six-plus years; a late May CNN poll showed him with a 52 percent approval rating with American adults. Still, the conventional wisdom heading into the 2016 campaign, which Jeb Bush formally launched in mid June, was that the former Florida governor would be better off if his brother stayed in the background.
News over the summer that George W. Bush would fundraise for Jeb Bush was treated in some quarters as the move of a troubled campaign that was desperate for cash. Conversely, President Bill Clinton, whose administration is recalled more fondly than that of his successor, is viewed broadly as an asset to the White House campaign being waged by his wife, Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
But as it turns out, say Republicans familiar with George W. Bush’s role in his brother’s campaign, there’s a thriving market for President Obama’s predecessor in so-called GOP establishment circles and even other factions of the party. “Time’s been good for him,” said Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., who has endorsed Jeb Bush. That’s why the ex-two term Florida governor has pressed the most recent GOP president into service on his behalf not just selectively, but on an accelerated basis.
The Bush campaign said it’s grateful for W’s support. “Jeb is running on his record, but there is obviously tremendous respect for and good will toward President Bush in the party and beyond thanks to his leadership in a time of crisis for this country,” spokeswoman Allie Brandenburger said.
George W. Bush has been most effective for Jeb raising money from wealthy Jewish Republicans, who comprise a small but influential bloc of the GOP donor universe. The support stems from Bush’s unwavering support for Israel over eight years in office, so much that many Jewish Republicans refer to him as the first Jewish president, similar to how African Americans used to describe Bill Clinton as the first black president.
Jeb bundler Jack Oliver, who was W’s finance director when he ran for president, has made sure that Jewish donors are included on the former commander-in-chief’s call list, one veteran Republican operative and Bush supporter told the Examiner. In September, W headlined a Jeb fundraiser in New York that was billed as a “luncheon reception for a discussion on our special relationship with Israel.”
Ari Fleischer, Bush’s first White House press secretary and a board member with the Republican Jewish Coalition, said his old boss’ appeal with this crowd is real and isn’t matched by any other GOP figure. Bush headlined an RJC dinner in Las Vegas in April, and Fleischer said the event shattered attendance records and raised an unprecedented amount of money. “It was the biggest dinner we’ve ever had — by far,” Fleischer said. “He’s a draw.”
After early missteps, Jeb seems to have found his footing in how to discuss his brother’s administration publicly. When challenged during the CNN debate last month, he said that George W. Bush kept America safe after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The debate audience applauded, and one Republican who was in the crowd said the reaction was authentic and enthusiastic.
But being too closely tied to W and his policies remains risky for Jeb, concede supporters of both Bushes. Domestically, the Republican Party has moved significantly to the right since Bush won re-election in 2004. That’s the case on government spending, entitlement programs, immigration reform, education policy and even certain aspects of national security policy.
Then there’s the issue of Jeb needing to prove he’s his own man, as the candidate himself has described it. The last two Republican presidents were his brother, and his father, George H.W. Bush. At a time when American voters are antsy for change and fresh leadership, Jeb has an extra hurdle to climb even though he’s never served in Washington and has a record of conservative accomplishment over eight years in Tallahassee.
Some the 2016 candidate’s supporters worry that George W. Bush’s increasing visibility on Jeb Bush’s behalf could backfire, worry
“I don’t know that it’s in Jeb’s interest to use him politically even though he’s a big help with fundraising,” said one Bush family ally who is fond of both brothers.
