JEB IN – AT 9:48 A.M. ET:   Jeb Bush will announce for president today.  As Johnny Carson used to ask, "Notice the difference?"  Thus far Jeb has been an unofficial candidate, but hasn't excited anyone.  Frankly, there is no real "wanting" of Jeb.  From London's Telegraph: 

Jeb Bush will finally end months of speculation and announce he is running for the American presidency on Monday, in a campaign carefully calibrated to portray himself as a natural heir to the family dynasty and at the same time distance himself from his brother George W.

In a key-note interview, he described his father, the first President George Bush, as the “greatest man alive” and said the mere thought of him might make him cry.

But by contrast he was careful to differentiate himself from his brother. “Jeb is different from George,” he told CNN. “Jeb is who he is and his life story is different.”

That is absolutely pathetic.  The thought of daddy might make him cry?  And he doesn't want to be associated with his brother, who is now more popular than Barack Obama?  Not exactly a great introduction to an argument to make Jeb president.  We can understand the lack of excitement.

Mr Bush plans to announce he is running for the White House in Miami on Monday, after months of unofficial campaigning.

He unveiled his campaign logo via social media site Twitter on Sunday, and immediately ran into teasing from the public that it is almost identical to the logo he used when he ran, successfully, for the governorship of Florida in 1998.

And the logo doesn't even mention his family name.  How courageous. 

But Jeb has lots of money, and the Republican establishment will be comfortable with him. 

Mr Bush said he was looking forward to telling a life story that was “full of warts and full of successes”, where he had had to make “tough decisions”.

In a jab at both President Barack Obama and, seemingly, some of his younger Republican rivals such as Marco Rubio, he was keen to project a statesmanlike appearance, touting his “life experience” as a state governor and overseas businessman.

“It’s something that’s been lacking in the presidency, to have someone who’s been tempered by life, and along the way I will get to share that,” said Mr Bush, who at 62 is eighteen years older than Mr Rubio and eight years older even than the departing president.

COMMENT:   Look, if Jeb is the nominee I will certainly vote for him.  But I'm not at all sure that this is the man who can create the passion necessary to defeat Hillary Clinton.  I think that he may turn out to be an also-ran, a decent man who just couldn't light any fires.

June 15, 2015