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The Bush legacy: is Jeb next?
January 20, 2005
SARASOTA, Fla. – When Florida Gov. Jeb Bush flew off for a high-profile tour of the tsunami devastation in southeast Asia with Secretary of State Colin Powell, he set off a storm of political speculation in Florida that he is preparing to seek the presidency in 2008.
Bush, 51, says that he won't run, at least not in four years. But of the dozens of people I talked to here, no one of either party took that statement very seriously. The governor cannot run again for the statehouse when his second term expires in 2006, and it's his turn at the big time.
Not to follow in his older brother's footsteps goes against the very nature of what it means to be a Bush.
The sense of dynasty and entitlement in the president's family is unmistakable, even though the elder George Bush, his father, has publicly tried to discourage the notion. But if he wanted to convey false modesty, his disavowals haven't worked. The Bush family is constantly on patrol to present a favorable image, and a monarchy does not fit that picture. It is not the American way.
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050120/news_lz1e20means.html Means can be reached via e-mail at means@hearstdc.com.