NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Third Bush fighting for presidency a serious possibility

By David Usborne
Independent·
8 Apr, 2014 03:42 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Former Florida Governer Jeb Bush. Photo / AP

Former Florida Governer Jeb Bush. Photo / AP

Jeb Bush has admitted in the clearest terms yet that he is thinking seriously about running for the Republican nomination for president in 2016 by telling an audience in Texas that he is trying not to.

The former two-times governor of Florida and brother and son of former presidents said his reluctance to get too deep into the question now means a decision is not imminent. But he wont leave the party hanging forever. "I'll make up my mind [by] the end of the year I just don't want to go through that until the right time," he said, adding that he spends "every day trying to avoid having to think about it".

Traditional Republicans - as against the Tea Party right - have increasingly come to view Mr Bush, 61, as the only person capable of waging a credible campaign in 2016, particularly if Hillary Clinton emerges as the Democrat nominee. His role as a potential saviour has come into focus in part because of the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal that has enveloped New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

But in speaking on Sunday night to an audience gathered at the George W Bush Presidential Library in Dallas to mark the 25th anniversary of the presidency of George HW Bush, his father, the former governor also managed to demonstrate why his running for the White House might just as easily cleave the party in two as reunite it, with comments on education and immigration that would inflame Tea Party activists. The reasons for Mr Bush to decline are many, including his home life. "Is it OK for my family?" he asked. "Is it something that is a huge sacrifice for my family?"

Running would open his Mexican-born wife and their children to intense scrutiny. One daughter has had tangles with the law over drug use. His son George P Bush is beginning a political career of his own in Texas and might not want his father taking his oxygen. There is also the problem of his name. A recent ABC/Washington Post poll showed that 50 per cent of Americans would not be ready to vote for yet another Bush.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It is 12 years since he last ran for election, in Florida, and he signalled his distaste for the attack-ad negativity of national campaigns today. "Can a candidate run with a hopeful, optimistic message, hopefully with enough detail to give a sense that its not just idle words and not get back into the vortex of the mud fight?" he asked.

On immigration, he almost set up the mud fight even before declaring by saying that some of those who enter the US do so out "of an act of love", coming often for family reasons. That implies both joining family members already in the US and remitting money they earn to families back home. Such sentiments are anathema to the party's right.

"Yes, they broke the law, but it's not a felony," said Mr Bush, who is fluent in Spanish. "It's an act of love. It's an act of commitment to your family. I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime, that there should be a price paid, but it shouldn't rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Though Mr Bush has solid conservative credentials, he would be pegged as the moderate in a primary battle for the nomination. His biggest problem would be that the voices of independent and moderate voters tend to be overwhelmed in early primary votes by the more conservative forces.

In Dallas, Mr Bush repeated his support for national school standards, the Common Core, which used to have wide party support until the Tea Party declared its opposition. "I just don't seem compelled to run for cover when I think this is the right thing to do for our country," he said. "And others have, others that supported the standards all of a sudden now are opposed to it. I don't get it. High standards matter."

- The Independent

Discover more

Opinion

Bob Jones: Politicians should learn when to call it quits

28 Oct 04:30 PM
World

Christie party's great sane hope

04 Nov 01:10 AM
World

Democratic left backs 'nightmare' for Hillary

16 Nov 01:57 AM
Opinion

Jack Tame: Ticking clock no friend to Obama

23 Nov 04:30 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

US crisis escalates: The latest as protests spread across the country

12 Jun 04:01 AM
World

Trump booed, cheered while attending play premiere amid boycott controversy

12 Jun 03:40 AM
World

New vaccine panel: RFK jnr appoints critics after dismissal

12 Jun 03:40 AM

It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

US crisis escalates: The latest as protests spread across the country

US crisis escalates: The latest as protests spread across the country

12 Jun 04:01 AM

Protests against immigration enforcement in cities across the US.

Trump booed, cheered while attending play premiere amid boycott controversy

Trump booed, cheered while attending play premiere amid boycott controversy

12 Jun 03:40 AM
New vaccine panel: RFK jnr appoints critics after dismissal

New vaccine panel: RFK jnr appoints critics after dismissal

12 Jun 03:40 AM
Premium
US on alert for potential Israeli strike on Iran

US on alert for potential Israeli strike on Iran

12 Jun 02:34 AM
The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE
sponsored

The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search