End of Bush Era
- By Mitchell Blatt
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 25, 2016
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U.S. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush pauses as he announces that he is suspending his presidential campaign, at his South Carolina primary night party in Columbia, South Carolina, February 20, 2016. [Xinhua] |
Jeb Bush had it all. The son of a president and the grandson of a senator, Bush had former White House advisors and power brokers behind him. Loyal Republican Party fundraisers were a phone call away. And they were loyal: Bush raised US$150 million for his campaign, the most of any Republican candidate, and spent tens of millions of dollars on TV ads attacking his rivals.
But none of that was enough to stave off inevitable defeat. After placing fourth in South Caroli-na's primary, 14 points behind Ted Cruz and a fraction of a point ahead of John Kasich, Jeb Bush dropped out of the presidential race.
It had been a long time coming. For months he was stuck at 4-5 percent in national polls, with no sign of forward progress. Now Marco Rubio and John Kasich, whose supporters had long been calling on Bush to leave the race, will compete for most of Bush's support.
Jeb Bush was cursed. For all the good the Bush name did, it was also a heavy weight around his neck. "Jeb!", who dropped the family name from his logo, was constantly hounded by questions and comparisons to his unpopular brother. It didn't help that when asked about the Iraq War, he fiercely defended George W. By the end of the campaign in South Carolina, Jeb was desperate enough to invite Dubya to campaign on the same stage as him.
It seems kind of unfair in a way. Jeb didn't cause the Iraq War. It wasn't his fault that George was unpopular. He didn't choose to be born a Bush, but he was going to be classified as part of the "establishment" no matter what his politics. If he had access to that much money, why not use it? The other candidates are using any money they can get their hands on from anyone they knew. Hillary, with her connections to Democratic Party royalty from having married a future president, has $184 million in her PACs.
For as much as Jeb's privilege helped him throughout his life, including this past year, it also had hurt him. Would a candidate with Jeb's record of conservative accomplishments as governor, without the connection to George Bush, without the attachment to the political elites, but also without as much campaign cash, have done better?
There's no way of knowing, as Jeb's whole life is intrinsically linked to his family. Moreover, Jeb did a bad job campaigning, independent of how much his name helped or hurt him. Still, it is true that no matter whom we are, much about us is chosen for us at birth, fated to us, good or bad, and impossible to separate from us.
Americans, especially in an anti-establishment mood this year, resent entitlement. Jeb seemed like he felt entitled to their votes. From the start he tried to intimidate other candidates from run-ning, by raising a "shock-and-awe" campaign his own team bragged about.
On the other hand, Marco Rubio was the son of a bartender and a maid (as he tells voters in every stump speech), who immigrated to America with nothing in order to escape Cuba. He seems the exact opposite of Jeb Bush. While Bush grew up attending prep schools and got connected with successful business partners in Miami who wanted to put the president's name on their stationary, Rubio grew up in cramped quarters in Las Vegas and Miami and took debt to pay for college that he didn't pay off until well into adulthood.
But on the other hand, Rubio's parents' life story is actually quite helpful to him campaigning. Citing their and his hardships, he paints himself as a compassionate success story who under-stands the plight of the working class. Voters turned off by privilege and entitlement flock to him and feel good about themselves for living in a country where anyone can rise up to be president - and for voting to make it happen.
Of course, Rubio didn't choose his parents either. For most of his life his background didn't help him. His name didn't get him meetings with businessmen, like it did for Jeb and George, and it didn't let him leapfrog all the low-level political positions most politicians need to build their ex-perience. His first elected position wasn't governor. He actually had to be elected to a seat as City Commissioner for West Miami and work his way up.
We all play the hands we are dealt. Rubio turned bad cards into a full house, and Bush flopped with aces in his hand.
In fact, of the five candidates left in the GOP race, three were the sons of immigrants (Trump's mother was an immigrant), one was the son of a poor single mother (Carson), and only one was also the son of great privilege, Donald Trump. Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, and Rubio all rely on their humble upbringings to help win them votes. Minorities have historically faced discrimination in the U.S. – and still do from some people – but the status of those candidates as Hispanic or black is also an asset for a party that is trying to expand its demographic appeal.
However, Trump has attacked each of them for their race and heritage. He said that Cruz and Rubio were both ineligible for the presidency based on where they or their parents were born. He released an ad that called Carson a "violent criminal," based on a story from his childhood about him stabbing a classmate.
The GOP race now can be said to be a contest between an old-fashioned establishment of racist whites who think they should be entitled to a better job based on their race rather than their skills and abilities, who support Trump's plans to restrict immigration and trade, versus a diverse meritocracy that represents where enlightened Americans would like to see their country go, a meritocracy where Rubio's and Carson's race and lack of means doesn't hold them back if they work hard enough.
One's family and background will always have an influence on them. All the money in the world can be redistributed, but if one's parents spend more time reading to their children and raising them, that, too, could have an impact on helping them. In the end, life isn't always fair, but you have to make the most of it with what you have. The tough world of electoral politics may be one of the best metaphors for the struggles of life.
The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://china.org.cn/opinion/MitchellBlatt.htm
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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