Jeb! Comeback Watch: Barbara Bush Is All In!

That’s always been the logical counter to fears that Jeb will be another Dubya: I’m more like the Bush who invaded Iraq and left, he could say, than the one who invaded Iraq and stayed.

As former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush mounts his awesome comeback run for the Republican nomination, neutral observers may be given cause to wonder, “Isn’t this an odd turn of events for a member of a famously gifted political family?” And the endorsement of George P. Bush, the family’s latest rising political star, lent credibility to Cruz’s then little-known 2012 Senate campaign.

The former First Lady’s slight did not go unnoticed by the thin-skinned real estate mogul.

You knew it had to happen soon: Someone at Politico (or actually two someones, Anna Palmer and Eli Stokols) would get on the horn with some of the donors who poured more than $100 million into the Jeb Bush super-pac Right to Rise and would reliably hear and report some high-end bitching.

“It is not strong to insult women; it is not a sign of strength when you insult Hispanics”, Bush said. “He’s popular here (in New Hampshire), he’s popular in Iowa, and he’s the most popular Republican in the country”. After his remarks this week, I asked Bush to clarify his view. Ted Cruz, who vowed to carpet bomb areas in which the Islamic State operates, suggesting civilians would be caught in that campaign; and billionaire Donald Trump, who vowed to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States to prevent attacks – comments that sparked widespread worldwide condemnation. “The answer was no as the sacrifice for his family was huge”, she writes.

‘I changed my mind as it became clear that he is needed.

It sounds reasonable and thoughtful enough – until Bush is standing on a debate stage with Trump, who likes to link the rise of ISIS to the USA invasion of Iraq, and the power vacuum that resulted after Hussein’s fall.

The Kentucky senator, whose campaign is struggling to gain traction, also said that Rubio, Bush and other Republicans are eroding Americans’ civil liberties in the fight against terror. Fine. You know who has higher expectations than the conventional wisdom? Me.