Jeb Bush is making his way to Utah to meet with Mitt Romney.
Somehow I don’t think they’ll be talking about jazz or bee keeping.
Speculation abounds that Bush will try to gently persuade Romney not to run in 2016.
Unless Bush makes Romney an offer he can’t refuse, I don’t see Mitt bowing out. And what can Jeb offer Mitt that he doesn’t already have?
So don’t be surprised if Romney tries to persuade Bush not to run. If that’s the case don’t expect Bush to budge either.
The argument is that if Bush and Romney run then someone like Ted Cruz can cruise his way to the nomination.
But if Bush and Romney cancel each other then surely Cruz and Rand Paul cancel each other out as well. Ditto for Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum. While you’re at it you can ditto Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal.
If Bush and Romney run (and for that matter Cruz and Paul plus Huckabee-Santorum and Perry-Jindal), the Republican who benefits the most is Scott Walker. Nobody cancels out Scott Walker. How many governors have won three elections in four years? How many governors have survived a recall? How many Republican politicians have beaten the Left at every turn in the Obama era? Scott Walker is simply in a class by himself.
While I don’t think a Romney bid is viable, if he wants to run then let him. I say the more competition the better. Hopefully that competition won’t be deterred if Bush somehow persuades Romney to stay out of the race.
But if the GOP race does come down to Bush vs. Romney then Bush has the advantage because of the support he has with Hispanics. There is no way in hell a Republican can win the White House with 27% of the Hispanic vote. Criticize Bush for being soft on illegal immigration, but no GOP presidential candidate should ever again utter the phrase “self-deportation”.
