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Jeb Bush’s Sense and Sensibility

Feb 26, 2015

In a week during which Rudolph Giuliani went crusader-ballistic questioning President Obama's patriotism--indeed, questioning his upbringing--Jeb Bush gave a speech about foreign affairs, the third serious policy speech he's given this winter. Giuliani got all the headlines, of course. That's how you do it now: say something heinous and the world will beat a path to your door. And Bush's speech wasn't exactly a barn burner. His delivery was rushed and unconvincing, though he was more at ease during the question period. He was criticized for a lack of specificity. But Bush offered something far more important than specificity. He offered a sense of his political style and temperament, which in itself presents a grownup and civil alternative to the Giuliani-style pestilence that has plagued the Republic for the past 25 years.





Again, the way Bush talks about governmental sclerosis is the important thing. It's no surprise he's in favor of the Keystone pipeline and hydraulic fracking--he's invested in fracking--but listen to this: "Washington shouldn't try to regulate hydraulic fracking out of business," he told the auto dealers. "It should be done reasonably and thoughtfully to protect the natural environment." There is no call to blow up the Environmental Protection Agency or ignore science. But there is awareness of a radical truth: that there is no creative destruction in government. The civil service laws written in the 19th century, the regulations written before the information age, are ancient, slow-motion processes that have corroded the government's ability to operate effectively.

Bush's fate will tell us a lot about the Republican Party. He does not seem to be an angry man, and the need to screech has been the great Republican vulnerability in recent presidential campaigns. His candidacy takes crazy off the table--no nutso talk about vaccinations or evolution or the President's patriotism. Even if you disagree with him, his civility demands respect.

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