Jeb Bush The Preferred GOP Candidate For Clinton Supporters

Jeb Bush, brother of George W. Bush and former Florida governor, is the preferred GOP candidate of Clinton supporters because he would be easier for them to defeat, says University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato, Breitbart News reports today. As Bill Clinton defeated George H. W. Bush in 1992, supporters believe Hillary Clinton could defeat Jeb Bush in 2016.

Writing in his Crystal Ball Report, Sabato outlined it this way, “Bush may be exactly the Republican the Clinton campaign desires. Her people are well rehearsed and they all say, ‘The candidate we’d least want to face is Jeb Bush.’ … [T]his suggests that the candidate the Clintonistas may really want to run against is Bush, knowing that … Walker or Rubio could make a strong future-versus-past argument. And with Bush, Hillary Clinton can run against two Bush recessions and two Bush Middle East wars, asking ‘do you want a third?'”

Writing for NBC News, Chuck Todd and Mark Murray analyze a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in explaining, as their article is titled, “Why Hillary Clinton Needs Jeb Bush.” Todd and Murray echo the argument, made by Larry Sabato, on why Hillary Clinton supporters believe Jeb Bush is the GOP nominee they want their candidate to face in 2016.

According to the numbers from the NBC/WSJ poll, Jeb Bush is viewed as less a candidate of change than Hillary Clinton, and 59 percent of those surveyed prefer a candidate who represents change. A full 60 percent of all voters surveyed in the poll, and 42 percent of Republican voters, view Jeb Bush as a candidate who represents policies of the past. Hillary is viewed as a candidate of the policies of the past by 51 percent of all voters, but only 24 percent of Democrats see her that way.

Jeb Bush, who supports “Common Core” education and immigration reform, faces challenges with GOP voters on these issues. Common Core is opposed by 52 percent of Republicans while 62 percent of Republicans oppose a candidate who agrees with the views of Jeb Bush on immigration reform. In other bad news for Jeb Bush, the poll shows that 46 percent of Republicans would vote for a GOP candidate closer to their views, while only 19 percent believe it’s more important to nominate a candidate who can defeat the Democrats in the general election.

Some have raised the question of whether Jeb Bush is too “liberal” to be the Republican nominee, the Inquisitr reported late last year.

“Could Jeb Bush, former Florida governor and brother of President George W. Bush, be too liberal to win the GOP nomination in 2016? This is the question raised by Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight. Bush has been perceived by some to be moving in the “liberal” direction by making statements in favor of comprehensive immigration reform and “Common Core” education policies, among other issues on which Jeb Bush has made major states,” the Inquisitr reported.

Many conservatives say Jeb Bush is too liberal, and that millions will stay home and not vote, leading to the loss in the election by Jeb Bush and the party’s candidates for senate and the house if the Republican nominee is Jeb Bush.

[Picture of Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush from Breitbart News]