Get to work, Rubio, or resign

In an effort to resuscitate his campaign, Jeb recently enlisted the help of two ex-presidents: his father, George H.W. Bush, and his brother, George W. Bush, to reassure donors in Houston that Jeb can still win, notes AFP.

“I wish I had gotten questions on, you know – got to answer questions on things that are on the minds of people, you know, entitlement challenges, the debt. Worst day of the campaign for Jeb Bush since his announcement was tonight”. “He can do both, but the simple fact is he’s not doing that, and a lot of people care about this”, Bush said. It’s like the old B.B. King line: “Nobody loves me but my mother – and she could be jivin’ too”.

“I think gun-free zones are a catastrophe, a feeding frenzy”, Mr. Trump said. Rubio also was sure to mention, as he always does, that his dad was a bartender, leaving unsaid the contrast with Bush’s father.

Many consider Rubio to be the most serious establishment challenger beyond Bush to go up against Carson or Trump, neither of whom have held elected office.

When asked to clarify his father’s stance on reform that would affect impoverished families get out of poverty, Bush Jr. attempted to explain how educational reform could solve problems for families as a whole. Rubio has defended his lack of attendance by saying there are staffers to do much of the work, and that, “I’m running for president so that the votes they take in the Senate are actually meaningful again”.

“I’m a constituent of the senator, and I helped him, and I expected that he would do constituent service, which means that he shows up to work”. Rubio’s absences, he said, have been excessive given the Senate’s “French work week” and he should either start showing up or do the honorable thing and resign. “I walked into this classroom of parents who had not gotten the same news and I said we’re under attack and we’ll deal with it. And I’m in the auto, I’m heading to Air Force One and [Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] calls me and said the planes hit the pentagon”. Thought he’d done pretty good.

“He wasn’t my senator”, responded Bush, sensing the danger. Rubio asked. “Jeb, I don’t remember you ever complaining about John McCain’s voting record”.

And that, everyone knew, was true.

The presidential primary field on October 27th in 2007 had Hillary Clinton beating Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination by 26 points. “I’m running for the president of the United States”.

That sounded far more presidential than Bush’s sniping. In this merciless election cycle, Bush will not realize the dynastic delusions that seemed most dear to his father and brother, but not to the candidate who has borne their expectations like a millstone.

I look at Trump, who is a destructive blowhard, and Carson, a nice courtly man with no political experience, and I just want GOP voters to pick a candidate who can win next November.