The Last of the Bushes: The father had “the wimp factor,” the second son has “low energy.” Now, before he goes -please clap-NY Times opinion, Ross Douthat

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Sat., 2/6/16, "The Last of the Bushes," NY Times opinion, Ross Douthat

"George H. W. Bush was the first politician I ever disliked. I was 12, my parents were loyal Democrats, and every night we’d watch the news, cheer for whatever Bill Clinton was saying on the trail, and then glower at the screen when Peter Jennings went to Brit Hume, then the White House correspondent, for an update on what the incumbent president was up to....

Watching him nightly, I kept thinking: How could anyone like this guy?

One answer, I learned later, was that relatively few people really did. Not that Bush hadn’t earned his share of admirers across his distinguished career. But by the standards of modern presidents he lacked a truly passionate fan base.

The conservative movement was perpetually disappointed in him; liberals gave him no credit for his moderation; the press never swooned for him; and few voters bonded with him the way they did with the beloved Reagan, the charismatic Clinton – or even, eventually, with a more populist and swaggering President Bush....

The elder Bush had many gifts, but he was not a particularly appealing politician.

Neither, it turns out, is his second son. We’ve reached the last stand of the Jeb Bush campaign, the make-or-break moment, and unless New Hampshire delivers a dramatic surprise his $100 million juggernaut is just days or weeks away from breaking down. And in many ways, the Jeb! campaign has recapitulated his father’s struggle to play the modern presidential part.

The father had “the wimp factor,” his second son has “low energy.”...The father famously told a New Hampshire audience, “message: I care.” The son finished a recent town-hall peroration with the instantly immortal “please clap.”

The difference is that the father had better fortune before his ’92 defeat. The father got to run for Ronald Reagan’s third term in 1988, whereas Jeb has the anchor of his brother’s unsuccessful administration. The father faced Bob Dole and Dukakis; his son has more politically effective rivals. (There’s more than a hint of Clinton in Marco Rubio.) And the elder Bush was better served by his hatchet men, Lee Atwater and James Baker, than Jeb has been by Mike Murphy’s super PAC, whose most memorable attack ad involved Rubio’s …boots.

So unless something dramatic changes, Bush family history will have repeated itself — the first time as a rise and fall, the second time just as a flop....

As a case for his son, this is not the stuff of 30-second ads: 

I share my dad’s weaknesses as a politician, so maybe I’d actually be a pretty good president. I’m Jeb Bush and I approve this message....

Jeb has proven, over many painful months, that he lacks the gifts required to win a primary campaign....
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Now, before he goes — please clap."

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Comment: Mr. Douthat cites a Jeb Bush 30 second ad saying he shares his father's "weaknesses as a politician." I spent about 30 minutes looking for another citation for this Jeb Bush ad/statement but didn't find one. I've no reason whatsoever to doubt Mr. Douthat. In fact, the statement sounds very much like something Jeb Bush would say. I only mention my search as a point of interest.

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