Indian American Journalist Warns of Possible Jeb Bush '08 RunBy LISA TSERING
June 15, 2007
How does the thought of another Bush in the White House strike you?
If you're journalist Shirish V. Date, you are very, very worried.
Date, the author of "Jeb: America's Next Bush" (Tarcher, 2007) and a reporter for the Palm Beach Post, has been tracking the career of President George W. Bush's younger brother since Jeb Bush was first elected governor of Florida in 1998. He is now convinced that Jeb Bush has secret plans to run for president or vice president in 2008.
Although Bush has made no public announcement, Bush has been friendly with Republican hopeful Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, who has name-dropped Jeb as a possible running mate.
If Jeb does decide to run, the muckraking Date will be nipping at his heels.
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"I know Jeb. I know how he thinks. And what he thinks is that an independent, unauthorized biography of his Florida tenure written by the guy who had become the biggest journalistic thorn in his side cannot possibly be a good thing, particularly when, sooner or later, he runs for president."
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During his years covering Bush and his activities during his two terms as Florida's governor, Date took the time to delve deep into tens of thousands of pages of government documents, thousands of emails to and from Jeb and his top aides, and many complex government databases to amass the information he now has on Bush, writing over 800 articles about him for the Palm Beach Post.
Jeb Bush is widely regarded as much smarter and more ambitious than his older brother, explains Date.
"Jeb's never going to get bored. He's relentless. That's the singular difference between him and his brother," Date told India-West recently by phone from Florida. For George Bush, the journey itself, and being named president, was its own reward. But Jeb wants to be president not just for the title, but for the opportunity to influence public policy with his highly conservative agenda.
"George wanted to be president: that was his singular desire. But Jeb would come in knowing exactly what he'd want to do, and would not stop," said Date.
Jeb genuinely feels he is meant to be president one day, and sees every step in his career as heading inexorably in that direction.
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Answering a reporter's question on the likelihood of Jeb considering running for the mere vice-presidency, Date explained that it was a stepping stone that couldn't be overlooked. "The vice presidency may be his most likely path, because he gets to introduce himself to the American people as non-threatening. The Republicans do this very cynically - if he loses a bid as VP now, then he'll be the number one guy in 2012," said Date, recalling Jeb's father, George H.W. Bush, and his vice presidency under Ronald Reagan and subsequent successful presidential campaign.
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It's when Jeb is unusually quiet, that we should be paying attention.
And with Jeb's apprentice, Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, just ramming through the Legislature an egregious, secretly hashed-out plan to deliver the largest tax cut in Florida's history that steals money from public services such as police, firefighters, teachers, water management, public libraries and parks, this is a lot of noisy cover for what Jeb is doing in the background.
Mr. Date, don't take your eye off of Jeb Bush for a nanosecond. Scrutiny is the one thing he cannot escape. And since Jeb Bush thinks he was bred to rule, it will be the only way to stop his march to the White House.