Jeez. I was sorta hoping "compassionate conservatism" was dead:
As part of announcing his 2016 presidential candidacy, Jeb Bush released a video entitled "Making a Difference." The video spotlights how Bush's work as governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007 affected four people: a low-income student, a low-skilled worker, a mother whose child is disabled and a woman who was the victim of domestic violence.
"My core beliefs start with the premise that the most vulnerable in our society should be in the front of the line, not the back," Bush says in the video. "The barriers right now on people rising up is the great challenge of our time."
The video is aimed particularly at women voters, underscoring the image Bush wants to project of himself as a deeply compassionate governor. "If you wonder what Jeb means when he talks about showing his heart, here you go." senior Bush aide David Kochel tweeted when the video was released Sunday.
But to a number of Republican strategists, some associated with other presidential campaigns and some not, the video shows a GOP politician ignoring the challenge of winning his own party's primaries before running a general election campaign. In addition, the video stresses Bush's goodness so heavily that the strategists wonder whether even a positive attribute, like compassion, can be overdone.
Can "even a positive attribute like compassion" be overdone? Absolutely, it's called "bering a Democrat." I care about you, the little people, so very, very much, so elect me, and I'll hold your hand from morning to nigh, from the cradle to the grave. All I ask for in return is your soul.
I mean, just listen to Hillary Clinton's Roosevelt Island speech:
While many of you are working multiple jobs to make ends meet, you see the top 25 hedge fund managers making more than all of America's kindergarten teachers combined. And, often paying a lower tax rate.
So, you have to wonder: "When does my hard work pay off? When does my family get ahead?"
"When?"
I say now. (Cheers, applause.)
Prosperity can't be just for CEOs and hedge fund managers.
Democracy can't be just for billionaires and corporations. (Cheers, applause.)
Prosperity and democracy are part of your basic bargain too.
You brought our country back.
Now it's time -- your time to secure the gains and move ahead.
Now it's your turn, little people. Step up to the trough.
God almighty. If we end up with a Jeb-Hillary race, I might have to give up on politics altogether. Surely the Republicans will be smart enough not to nominate Jeb. 'Fraid the Democrats are stuck with Hillary, though.
