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Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Best way to beat Hillary: Keep Jeb in the race
Jeb Bush's sudden renaissance, culminating in today's announcement that he's officially exploring a presidential run, will certainly be met with derision by the Republican Party's far right. But those already taking aim at the former Florida governor may want to keep their powder dry.
I say, the best way for the GOP to defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016 is to make sure that Jeb makes a nice, long run in the presidential primaries.
How's that?
Well, I'm convinced that a substantial portion of the American electorate would revolt if faced with an election fought between the Bushes and the Clintons. Many have had enough of this three-decade focus on two political families. So, the longer the Bush vs. Clinton prospect remains in the public eye, the more turned off average voters will become.
I can picture countless sound bites on cable TV news showing voters expressing disgust at the idea of the two parties furthering these fading dynasties.
One prominent conservative, Brent Bozell, has referred to the possibility of a Bush vs. Clinton race in '16 as "political vomit."
But, in order to maintain a constant buzz about Clinton and Bush, Bozell and the rest of the right wing that dominates the GOP would have to play a little political softball. They could collectively marginalize Jeb without blasting him, thereby sending the message to the other Republican candidates that Bush is harmless and cannot possibly win the nomination. Though the wide open fight for the Republican nomination shapes up as a particularly nasty race, I doubt that a hands-off-Jeb strategy could backfire. Some suggest that two issues -- support for Common Core and immigration reform -- are enough to block Bush's path to the 2016 GOP convention.
Under the plan, as this slow deflation of the Bush balloon took place, the Democrats would become fully invested in Hillary as their nominee. It would be too late to pull back. The majority of voters will have made it clear they've had their fill of Bush and Clinton but only one, Hillary, would be left standing when the primary season comes to a close.
It seems so devious, which makes it so 2016. For the far right, this would be their fantasy scenario: Bush will move to the sidelines right about the time Hillary starts to stink with political vomit so badly that she won't be the female candidate, she'll be the tired, old bag-lady candidate.

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