Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Jeb Bush vows to be 'my own man' on foreign affairs
Jeb Bush faces overcoming the Bush legacy if he wants a chance at the White House. During a speech on Wednesday, he attempted to separate himself from his father and brother, especially in relation to foreign policy decisions. How do you feel about another Bush running for president? Will he turn out to be more similar to the Bush legacy than he claims?
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I think that the comment at the very end of the article sums up my thoughts: "and Jeb Bush supported these policies at every turn." He was indeed extremely supportive of his father and his brother in their presidential endeavors. And, as we all know, the outcomes of some of these actions were, at times, not in the best interest of the nation as a whole. It's nice that Jeb hopes to make a change for the future, but his remark that he won't "litigate" was very ambiguous. He will need to be more specific regarding how he plans to break away from his family's political past. And finally, he was extremely critical of the Obama administration; this sets the bar high for his campaign since he is implying that he can do a better job.
ReplyDeleteThe article specifically points out that Jeb Bush supported most of the policies that his father and brother implemented, so how can we expect him to make different decisions? It doesn't seem like many people change their opinions on something, especially if they've gone years agreeing with a certain way of life. I'm not sure I would want to see him prove if he could disconnect himself from his father and brother honestly.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, the first Bush (the father) wasn't that bad. (Made a few mistakes and said something in his election campaign he probably would've been better off not saying, but not a horrible president).
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, the idea that one will always follow the same footsteps as his or her parent is flawed. I do not believe Jeb Bush should be judged based on the actions of his brother and father.
However, I agree with Carolanne, the fact that he supported his brother's policies says a lot more about the type of president Jeb Bush might be. You can't just say you support several unpopular, controversial policies and then say later on that you won't do anything similar when you're in that same rule.
I agree with the first two parts of Malachi's post. Just because Jeb's brother and father acted a certain way does not mean he will act accordingly. Because the world of foreign policy is ever changing, I do not think it would be a good idea to judge Jeb Bush wholly on his decisions made in the passed. With today's multiple unique conflicts, I do not think retrospective voting is the best path forward. I think we should just wait and see how debates play out before dubbing Jeb as just another Dubya.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of his comments regarding the U.S. drawing red lines and erasing them, I agree. However, I would be interested to see what Jeb would have done instead.
I think it will be hard for Jeb Bush to differentiate himself from his brother and father, especially when he keeps bringing them up. It is important that he does make it known he is not the same as his brother and father but he probably has the same ideology as them.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for Jeb. He is wrapped up in the reputation set forth by his family members that passed through the White House before him. The political world is constantly changing and it is not smart to get to entirely caught up in the past. Jeb Bush is just trying to set himself a path to be successful. It is not surprising that the American people are quick to feel that he will act accordingly to his father and brother. I do feel, however, that he should be given a shot at the White House regardless of how people feel about the past.
ReplyDeleteWe need a mix between Obama and George Bush if we are ever going to fix our foreign policy issues. Obama is too scared to fight and is too timid, Bush was too agressive and charged head first into disaster. We need a president who is willing to fight if necessary, but careful and cautious as well.
ReplyDeleteJeb Bush is definitely going to have to work hard to try to entangle his image from that of his father and brother. While one really shouldn't judge him just because he is a Bush the fact that he did support his brother's foreign policy decision does say a lot about him, as Antonella pointed out. We will just have to see how Jeb Bush tries to establish his own views on foreign policy, but he definitely has to separate himself from his brother or it will drag him down.
ReplyDeleteI find it nearly impossible for Jeb Bush to separate himself from his brother and fathers legacy. I am however interested to see what differences he will outline in his platform as the election, and I do respect the fact that he doesn't support his brother's foreign policy decisions.
ReplyDeleteI feel like in such a diverse country, everybody has their own identity and should be viewed as an individual. It would be unfair to tie him to his father and brother and mold a vision of how well you think he will perform based on how well his family members performed. I'm confident that if he does win the election, that if he messes up and does something that is not smiled upon by the majority of the general public, that he will be equated to his brother and father.
ReplyDeleteI do think it's good Jeb Bush is trying to reach the people by saying he will be his own man and different from his father and brother but he does repeat throughout that "Jeb Bush supported those policies at every turn." How much can he differentiate between them when he supports a lot of what they did?
ReplyDeleteJeb Bush supported his family's policies "at every turn" and throughout the article he gave me the impression that he wanted to expand the power of the U.S. military. That sounds a lot like "W" to me. It's going to be very hard for Jeb to differentiate himself from his family. At this point, it seems that he would be elected more because of the recognition of the name than for his unique ideas about policy.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to differentiate with the Bush family. Even though Jeb Bush is a person and NOT his father i feel like he will still support his father's policies. I cannot wait to see if he keeps his word since he keeps saying through out the article that he is not his father. I am interested to see where he stands and what his disagrees with his father.
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