Gov Jeb Bush's break from political maneuvering doesn't last long

[seafan]

What will this guy do when he can no longer micromanage our world? It's starting to be a concern.


Governor's break from political maneuvering doesn't last long

Kennedy & Garcia
Published May 21, 2006

Gov. Jeb Bush seemed like he really meant it last week when he vowed to take a break from rearranging the pieces on Florida's political chess board.
But his pledge barely lasted a day.

His endorsement of Senate President Tom Lee of Brandon over Rep. Randy Johnson of Celebration in the Republican primary for chief financial officer came 27 hours after the governor said he learned a lesson from failing to persuade House Speaker Allan Bense to challenge U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris.
"I'm taking a pause on political speculation until we get through the bills and the budget and my work," Bush told reporters. "I know you all won't stop. But I'm going to have a moratorium on that front."

The next day, he was standing next to Lee.

And by week's end, Bush was casting another big shadow: this time over Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, who is being challenged for the first time in 14 years in the Legislature by a Bush appointee to the Miami-Dade School Board, Frank Bolanos.
Villalobos was widely expected to be targeted for opposition after he voted against Bush's bid to have class-size and school-voucher measures put on the November ballot.
Villalobos was stripped of his majority-leader post by Lee after those votes. But Villalobos said he "hoped not" when asked whether he thought Bush helped engineer Bolanos' challenge.

snip

With Harris looking weak against Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Bush stepped in. And with Democrat Adelaide "Alex" Sink viewed as a strong contender for the open seat of chief financial officer, Bush is looking to assure that his vision of the best GOP candidate emerges as her opponent.
"It's clear that he is concerned that if he leaves and Democrats take over some offices, he will lose a lot of what he stood for," said Mark Bubriski, a Florida Democratic Party spokesman. "The fall elections will be viewed as a referendum on him. And if Republicans lose, he doesn't look good."

snip

[sutz12]

1. And this surprises exactly who?

All politics, all the time. And it's even better if it's dirty politics. :)

[flordehinojos]

3. john ellis buttinsky bush, like his brother, like their father, like their

mother, cannot refrain from showing himself to be in charge of power and control...they are all power and control freaks. and so, jealousy has something to do with it, which has to do with insecurity, which has to do with rejection and a whole host of snowballing things which prevents each of them from not feeling threatened by people with differences of opinions, or being honest brokers and negotiators of truth and of the people's voices, or from feeling or showing any respect towards anyone who is not them.

[seafan]

2. Some interesting factoids in this article, not to be missed:

Ooops, people are figuring Bush out.

Florida hunters and anglers, who overwhelmingly supported Republican George W. Bush in 2004, are decidedly unhappy with how the president is tackling the nation's energy problems, a new poll shows.
Sixty-three percent of Florida sportsmen, including 55 percent who voted for Bush, say the country is on the wrong track in meeting its energy needs, according to the survey conducted in March and April for the Florida Wildlife Federation and the National Wildlife Federation.

"Florida sportsmen are starting to see stronger hurricanes, prolonged red tides, sea-level rise and coral bleaching, and most of them think global warming has something to do with it," said Manley Fuller, Florida Wildlife Federation president.
While the Bush administration has spearheaded the drive for oil drilling off Florida's coasts, only 11 percent of poll respondents supported more domestic drilling. Most of those surveyed advocate conservation and increased reliance on renewable sources of energy.

The wildlife organizations said Florida outdoorsmen supported Bush over Democrat John Kerry in 2004 by a more than 2-to-1 margin, helping him carry Florida by a nearly 400,000 votes.
"These numbers ought to send a clear message to leaders in Florida and across the country," said Steve O'Hara, a leader of both wildlife organizations. "The time for debate is over. Sportsmen want action on global warming."

Well, well, well.