bush!

The other day I was watching Mark Halperin ask questions of a Republican-voting focus group. He asked them about Jeb Bush and I heard lots of hemming and hawing about people having Bush fatigue. My bullshit detector immediately went off because it’s my feeling that if Bush ran for a third term, he’d easily win the Republican primary.

There is no such thing as “Bush fatigue” when it comes to conservative voters. In fact, George W. Bush has a 90% approval rating among Republicans in South Carolina. Nationally, he has a nearly 80% approval rating among Republican voters. Bush the Former is beloved of Republicans in general, but nowhere is he beloved than in South Carolina. So why isn’t jeb! doing better? I think the problem is 2-fold.

1.) Looking towards the general election, jeb! chose to run away from the Bush legacy. That was a huge mistake. Republican primary voters are all about their hearts and guts and their hearts and guts looooooooooooooove W. I call it “troll by vote.” Essentially, a lot of Republicans simply like to cast “troll votes.” That is they like to cast votes for candidates they know give liberals hives. There is no bigger hive-monger in the country than George W. Bush. Well, except for Trump, Cruz and Rubio. Hence their popularity. jeb! wanted to run away from the non-existent (in the primaries) “Bush fatigue,” gravely underestimating the troll vote.

2.) It’s not just that Republicans want to troll, they want to vote for a troll. With his “please clap,” hangdog “adult in the room” demeanor, jeb! is hardly going to excite the Republican primary voter. He’s missing everything his brother had–the stupidity, the hatred for the English language, the smirk, and THE SWAGGER. He is no W. He is jeb. Period.

Republican primary voters, despite being crazy asshole maniacs, are savvy enough to know that Bush name will not go over well in the general election. So when you hear about Republicans having Bush fatigue, know that that “fatigue” has nothing to do with an actual dislike of the Bushes and everything to do with the fact that jeb:( simply isn’t a big enough troll for them to let go of their misgivings about the general.