Jeb Bush finding place for brother’s tenure in 2016 campaign
After initially struggling with questions about the Iraq War and his brother’s tenure as the nation’s leader, Jeb Bush has tossed aside any hesitations about embracing former President George W. Bush’s legacy and is searching for new ways to incorporate him into his White House campaign. It’s a shift due in no small part to the jabs of Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who isn’t backing down from his assertions that Bush’s brother bears some responsibility for 9/11. “In the latest episode of the reality show that is Donald Trump’s campaign, he has blamed my brother for the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our nation,” Bush wrote in a column published Tuesday in National Review. “That Trump echoes the attacks of Michael Moore and the fringe left against my brother is yet another example of his dangerous views on national-security issues.” Spurred on by Trump, Bush is showing none of the hesitation in embracing his brother’s presidency that tripped him up in the weeks leading to the formal launch of his 2016 campaign. Jeb Bush fumbled answers to questions about his brother’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003 for an entire week in May, struggling to explain whether he would have done the same. Bush is on much more comfortable ground when it comes to his brother’s response to 9/11. “The simple fact is that when we were attacked, my brother created an environment where, for 2,600 days, we were safe,” Bush said Monday night on Fox News. “No one attacked us again. And he changed the laws, he did everything necessary, he united the country, and he kept us safe.” The back and forth between the two candidates began at the second Republican debate, when Bush defended his brother as a president who kept the nation safe after the billionaire businessman claimed George W. Bush’s presidency “gave us Barack Obama, because it was such a disaster.” While George W. Bush’s favorability among all Americans remains mixed, nearly three-quarters of Republicans have a favorable view of him, according to a Pew Research poll in May. Jeb Bush scored his biggest applause of the evening when he pivoted to his right to face Trump and said calmly, “As it relates to my brother, there’s one thing I know for sure. He kept us safe.” The debate hall at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library erupted in applause, and the comment has since become a part of the former Florida governor’s campaign stump speech. “The reaction to Donald Trump’s remarks show that no one accepts them,” said longtime Bush supporter and donor Al Hoffman. “Jeb isn’t afraid, and what he’s saying is we’re brothers and we’re going to support each other.” Yet Trump shows no signs of slowing his ridicule of Bush’s applause line. On Monday, he tweeted links to stories about pre-9/11 intelligence failures and continued to talk it up Tuesday in a pair of television interviews. “What happened is that Jeb Bush started talking about it and then instead of just letting it go, he started talking about it and now everybody virtually … is agreeing with me,” Trump said in an interview with CNBC’s Stuart Varney. “Because, let’s face it, you can’t say the country was safe when the World Trade Center came down during his regime.” In the past week, George W. Bush has written two emails to supporters asking for donations, and the campaign is using his name to appeal to donors, including one Sunday where Jeb Bush asks supporters to “help me defend my brother against Trump’s comments.” Former President George W. Bush, as well as the brothers’ father former President George H. W. Bush and their mother, Barbara, plan to attend a Jeb Bush campaign donor conference in Houston this weekend. The elder Bush brother will also headline a fundraiser next Thursday, invitations coming from two of his chiefs of staff while in office. Meanwhile, Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign is looking anew at how best to build on the positive response the former president’s name has invoked. Voters, specifically those who identify fighting terrorism as a top priority, continue to view the former president favorably, said Bush campaign spokesman Tim Miller. “We’ve seen a very positive response to emails from President Bush,” Miller said. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Republicans to charge media for seating at 2016 convention
Representatives for news organizations who plan to cover next summer’s convention are protesting a move by the Republican National Committee to charge news media organizations a $150 access fee for seats on the press stand. Seats on risers constructed for newspapers, magazines, wire services and online print publications have been awarded without charge in the past. Representatives for daily and periodical press galleries in the Capitol protested Monday that the media “should not be charged to cover elected officials at an event of enormous interest to the public.” The four-day event will be held in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena. “We are concerned that the proposed fee smacks of forcing the press to pay for news gathering,” said Heather Rothman, chairwoman of the Executive Committee of Periodical Correspondents, and Jonathan D. Salant, chairman of the Standing Committee of Correspondents. “We urge the (GOP convention committee) to follow the precedent of previous conventions of both parties and drop plans for an access fee so the press can continue to inform the public about a major news event.” The RNC says the $150 charge covers a fraction of the $750-per-seat construction cost. In addition to the precedent, the fee could prove burdensome to smaller news organizations. Television networks generally cover the cost of constructing their skyboxes. “There is no access fee,” said RNC spokeswoman Alison Moore. “For outlets who prefer a special work station, there will be a minimal charge for construction at a fraction of the actual cost.” The press organizations are responsible for credentialing media covering Capitol Hill, and staff aides in the congressional press galleries have run the press stand at both the Democratic and Republican conventions for decades, in part to prevent the political parties from playing favorites. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Starting Nov. 1, some rural driver’s license offices to reopen 1 day monthly
Alabama will reopen rural driver’s license offices at least one day per month beginning Nov. 1. Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary Spencer Collier gave the time frame for the reopening announced by the governor. Gov. Robert Bentley said Friday that Alabama will partially restore service after a backlash over a state decision to shutter 31 rural driver’s license offices. Critics said the state saved little money by closing the offices while creating a hardship for people in rural, poor and heavily minority areas of the state. Examiners had typically given driving and permit tests in the locations one or two days each week. Collier says the offices will reopen a minimum of one day each month. He says the department is exploring partnerships and other options to offer services. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Marco Rubio rallies GOP faithful in conservative stronghold Utah
Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio pitched himself as a fresh face in his party’s crowded primary contest during a Monday night campaign stop in Utah. The 44-year-old Rubio spoke about outdated government policies that haven’t kept up with disruptive technologies such as ride-hailing company Uber. He called the 2016 election “a generational choice” – a subtle jab at 62-year-old Jeb Bush, a fellow Florida Republican who is competing for similar voters. Rubio didn’t mention the former Florida governor or any of other 2016 contenders by name during his 30-minute speech. He drew his loudest applause in conservative Utah with calls to repeal President Barack Obama‘s 2010 health care law and to beef up military spending. About 300 people attended the indoor rally at fairgrounds in Salt Lake City, about a mile away from the headquarters of the Mormon church. The Florida senator was briefly a member of the faith during his childhood in Las Vegas, a fact that could reverberate with voters in Utah, where about 60 percent of the state’s residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rubio, his sister and his mother were baptized in the LDS Church but returned to Catholicism by Rubio’s early teen years. His campaign said he has not asked the church to remove his name from a list of the faithful. He didn’t mention his Mormon ties during his Monday speech but noted he not been in Salt Lake City since he was 9 years old. He recounted that trip to visit famous Mormon sites in his memoir, “An American Son.” Stan Lockhart, the former head of the Utah Republican Party and a co-chair of Rubio’s Utah campaign, said Monday that he thinks Utah voters will be more interested in hearing what Rubio has to say about problems facing the country. “I think that’s secondary,” Lockhart said of Rubio’s childhood Mormonism. After Rubio’s Monday night rally, the Florida senator went to a fundraiser at a private home in the Salt Lake City area. Tickets for a round-table event started at $2,700, followed by $500-per-person reception. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Jeb Bush unveiling land plan Wednesday in Reno
Jeb Bush is visiting Reno this week to unveil a plan for managing Western lands and resources. The Republican presidential candidate is set to hold a round-table discussion at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Public lands are a hot topic in Nevada, where the federal government manages more than 80 percent of land within the state’s borders. Bush will head to southern Nevada later in the day for a 6 p.m. forum hosted by the LIBRE Initiative. The event at the College of Southern Nevada Cheyenne Campus in North Las Vegas is part of a speaker series that has so far featured Republican candidates Marco Rubio and Rand Paul. The LIBRE Initiative seeks to advance libertarian principles among Hispanic voters. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
