Jun.15
Political News, Now.
The Chat: Jeb Bush’s Announcement Speech, Instantly Analyzed
Jeb Bush formally entered the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination on Monday with a speech at the Kendall campus of Miami Dade College. Over instant messages, two New York Times political correspondents — Patrick Healy and Maggie Haberman — analyzed Mr. Bush’s remarks in real time, as they did with the campaign announcements of several other 2016 candidates. Here is an edited version of their chat.
Pat: Hi, Maggie! Here we go again, this time for Jeb Bush’s kickoff speech for his White House bid. And let me say straight away: I have never seen such an ethnically diverse audience at a presidential campaign announcement. Bush is determined to draw on his Hispanic ties and family.
Maggie: Hi, Patrick – sorry, I was eating popcorn for the second Bush video they showed!
Just kidding. Yes, you are totally right, I’ve never seen a more diverse group.
Pat: Lots of introductory videos, for sure. And there were some interesting warm-up speakers, including State Senator Don Gaetz saying, “Jeb Bush is the Florida Republican who can win.”
Maggie: Yes, Gaetz took quite a shot at Marco Rubio. He also delved into potentially dangerous territory, saying that Jeb would make people “proud” to be an American again.
Pat: A swipe at Obama, who some Republicans have tried to frame as un-American.
Maggie: This speech is very important for Jeb.
After a rough proto-candidacy, he has to really demonstrate he’s ready for the next phase.
Pat: Here he is, sans tie and jacket. Very loose and casual. And using vivid language: Democrats will “slog on with the same agenda under another name.”
Maggie: I have to say, while I know he’s now off at the super PAC, some of this writing sounds like it may have involved Mike Murphy before he departed to the other side of the firewall.
Pat: “They’ve offered a progressive agenda that includes everything but progress,” Jeb says, as he ticks off big-government policies under President Obama and proposed by Hillary Clinton.
Maggie: Although if I’m Jeb Bush, I don’t know if I use the phrase “passed on” about the presidency.
There it is! He has now said he’s a candidate. Finally free from the shackles of a threatened F.E.C. complaint!
Pat: It is official – after months of raising tens of millions of dollars for his noncandidacy.
Sent at 4:08 PM on Monday
Maggie: Hahaha
A line he just said – we can fix it “because I’ve done it” – is something we will hear over and over.
Pat: Indeed, his Florida record of tax cuts, vetoes, and education reform (charter schools) is what he wants to sell.
Maggie: Yes. It’s interesting, Pat, he seems at his most comfortable here.
I wonder if he can ever seem this comfortable on the presidential trail.
Pat: He’s in his comfort zone before this audience at Miami Dade College, talking about his Florida years. By contrast his policy speeches this winter have been so leaden.
Maggie: This is very tough, outsider-y talk for someone whose dad and brother lived in Washington.
But I agree with you, his speech is animated. And the crowd is very fired up, in a genuine way.
Pat: I wonder when (if?) he’ll mention his father and brother.
Maggie: “It is time to start making rules for the rule-makers.”
Pat: Short sentences that sound populist.
Maggie: Totally. He is so far achieving his goal of sounding uplifting.
That was a good line about how a “self-serving culture” exists in Washington and once did in Tallahassee, his state’s capital.
Sent at 4:15 PM on Monday
Maggie: It’s funny, Patrick: This speech is much more John McCain than George W. Bush.
Sent at 4:16 PM on Monday
Pat: I agree – he’s running as a reformer, like McCain, though he’s also an outsider, like his brother. But it’s the McCain echoes that resonate most – the determination to save the country from weak, fuzzy-minded liberals.
Maggie: He just mentioned Hillary Clinton. Wow.
Here come the boos.
He’s mentioning her record as secretary of state. This is more frontal than I expected him to be.
Pat: Attacking her over religious liberty is frontal but also sideways. I wonder if it’ll be memorable.
Maggie: Now the speech seems to be going into conservative radio territory: the president’s “phone-it-in foreign policy,” and the “Obama/Clinton/Kerry” team.
Pat: He’s really wading into his Catholicism, taking Obama to task for talking about the Crusades a few months ago.
Maggie: Yes, and that is real for him. And something people miss about him a lot, how devout a Catholic he is.
Pat: He converted as an adult, and it informs much of his worldview, and his stands on domestic issues like gay marriage.
Sent at 4:20 PM on Monday
Sent at 4:20 PM on Monday
Maggie: There’s not a terrific through-line on this speech, just as there wasn’t for Clinton.
Pat: Yes. He’s pivoting a fair amount. Now we’re on to “rebuilding our vital friendships” including with “the brave, democratic state of Israel.”
Maggie: And Cuba. It’s interesting, one of the people who spoke in that introductory hour was a Cuban refugee. It really cuts against Marco Rubio’s story and I think is in part intended to.
Pat: He calls Obama a “glorified tourist” regarding his Cuba policy.
Maggie: Ha, that was a good line. And being born and then meeting two presidents – his father and brother.
It is humble.
That was a funny reference to his mom, Barbara Bush, who had to be brought around to the idea of him running.
Pat: Yes – saying that he’s watching what she’s saying since there are so many reporters around. Made me smile.
Maggie: This is the most engaged crowd I’ve seen at one of these speeches.
There it is – “meaningful immigration reform.”
That’s not something you’ve heard a lot from Republican candidates either.
Pat: Immigration reform is one of the issues that he will rise and fall on. Regardless of what you think of his stand on the issue, he is confronting a very tough reality for 11 million people living in this country.
Maggie: Yes, and he is doing it in a deeply personal way.
Pat: A beautiful comment about his wife, whom he met more than 40 years ago in her Mexican hometown: “Whatever else I might or might not have going for me, I’ve got the quiet joy of a man who can say that the most wonderful friend he has in the whole world is his own wife.”
Maggie: Very. And now he’s speaking Spanish, fluently and well.
Pat: Hispanic culture is a real part of his identity.
Maggie: I’ve heard from some Democratic strategists as we’ve been chatting who have expressed a range of worry. All agreed the speech was extremely good.
Pat: “In any language, my message will be an optimistic one because I am certain that we can make the decades just ahead the greatest time ever to be alive in this world.”
Optimistic and open are the words for this speech. But you know how long, hard-fought campaigns can get, Maggie – ugly.
Maggie: Yes, Patrick, this joy can probably only last so long.
He seemed relieved to be ending the striptease. But we’ll see. And he’s done. Until next time!
Pat: Gchat soon!
Sent at 4:32 PM on Monday
More Posts
Buried in Jeb Bush Website, a ‘Die Hard’ Surprise
For an hour or so this afternoon, buried in the source code of Jeb Bush’s website were several paragraphs summarizing the plot of the “Die Hard” movie franchise.
Seems like an odd thing to include in the JS of your presidential announcement page. https://t.co/bA8DeSzeykpic.twitter.com/vwfUbBLt0M— Jeremy Bowers (@jeremybowers) June 15, 2015
Besides spoiling the “Die Hard” movies for people who haven’t seen them, the inclusion of the scripting files — something of a joke among the campaign’s programmers — does nothing to compromise the function of Mr. Bush’s website.
But source code of candidate websites has been an interesting place to browse so far this cycle.
The source code of of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s site features an ASCII-art version of her campaign logo, and the page source for Rand Paul’s siteincludes a pitch to join the campaign’s tech team.
(Hiding messages in a site’s HTML files isn’t an uncommon practice. Even the Times includes a recruiting message in the source code of many of its pages.)
So, when browsing campaign websites, don’t forget to look under the hood. You just might find something that surprises you.
Hillary Clinton Pushes to Expand Access to Pre-Kindergarten
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday pushed to broaden President Obama’s efforts to expand access to pre-kindergarten, proposing more federal money for states to provide preschool to children from moderate and low-income families.
The proposal is the first policy proposal Mrs. Clinton has put forth since she officially kicked off her campaign with a speech on Saturday that was heavy on talk of lifting the middle class but light on specifics.
That changed on Monday when she said she would “invest in our most important assets, our children” and laid out a plan that would give incentives to states to provide public preschool to children whose family incomes are below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. The plan would be directed at the half of the country’s 8.1 million 3- and 4-year-olds who are not currently enrolled in pre-kindergarten, her campaign said.
Mrs. Clinton also proposed doubling funding for the early Head Start program, as well as a middle-class tax cut that could “go towards helping parents pay for quality child care.”
Speaking on the day that Jeb Bush officially entered the race for the Republican nomination, Mrs. Clinton sought to distinguish her position on early childhood education with that of her potential Republican rivals.
“Republicans aren’t just missing the boat on early childhood education — they’re trying to sink it,” Mrs. Clinton said at a Y.M.C.A. in Rochester, N.H., where she read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” to a room of young children.
Of all the issues Mrs. Clinton could have delved into, early childhood education is perhaps the most obvious and among the safest. Liberal Democrats have criticized Mrs. Clinton for not addressing Wall Street regulation, financial reform and trade in her Saturday address, the most wide-ranging of her campaign so far.
Policies affecting children fit comfortably into Mrs. Clinton’s broader biographical message. As a candidate this time around, she has emphasized her background advocating for children, including at the Children’s Defense Fund in the 1970s, and as first lady and a senator. At the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, Mrs. Clinton started “Too Small to Fail,” an initiative aimed at educating young children.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Clinton continued Monday to avoid taking a firm position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal currently being debated in Washington.
“I will judge what’s in the final agreement, but I hope it can be made better,” Mrs. Clinton said as she answered questions from reporters in a packed barn on an apple orchard in Concord, N.H., during her second campaign stop of the day.
One Democratic rival, Martin O’Malley, was quick to criticize Mrs. Clinton for calling the “fast track” portion of Mr. Obama’s trade deal a “process issue” in her New Hampshire remarks. Giving the president such “fast trade” powers would allow him to strike a deal with limited congressional oversight.
“For thousands of American workers whose jobs are on the line with T.P.P., fast track is not a ‘process issue,'” said Lis Smith, O’Malley’s deputy campaign manager. “It’s a straightforward vote on their future and their livelihood.”
First Draft Focus: Jeb Bush Makes It Official
First Draft Focus: Story Time With Hillary
Jeb Bush Shows Loyalty to a Logo Derided by Some
Jeb Bush’s new campaign logo — Jeb! — was unveiled to guffaws that it was unoriginal and lacking in design elements, but for the former Florida governor, a throwback look appears to have been part of the plan.
Mr. Bush’s logo dates to his 1994 campaign, when he lost to Lawton Chiles, the incumbent Democratic governor. He stuck with it over the years, and in 2002 filed paperwork to trademark the logo.
The move was considered unorthodox at the time. According to a report from The Miami Herald, Mr. Bush intended to prevent groups that opposed him from using his name to raise money.
Mr. Bush remained protective of the trademark over the years. In 2010, after he had left office, his lawyer accused a Democratic State Senate candidate, Deborah Gianoulis, of stealing his logo after she distributed campaign signs and bumper stickers that read “Deb!”
After receiving a cease-and-desist letter, Ms. Gianoulis told The Florida Times-Union she had no idea about Mr. Bush’s logo and said “Deb” was her nickname.
“Governor Bush is welcome to borrow the logo we used in my 2010 campaign,” Ms. Gianoulis said on Monday. “All I ask in return is that his campaign put an exclamation point behind support for public education.”
Mr. Bush’s trademark lapsed later in 2010, and he reapplied for it this year, according to filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Branding experts noted on Monday that Mr. Bush’s simple, first-name only logo works well with his 2016 bid, in which he is looking to play down his connection to a political dynasty.
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) June 14, 2015
Erick Erickson, the conservative blogger, suggested that Mr. Bush’s logo is no worse than Hillary Rodham Clinton’s “H” with an arrow and argued that it would be hard to trump the success that President Obama had with “O” and a swooshing flag.
“At least ‘Jeb!’ is consistent and carries some history with it,” Mr. Erickson said. “Unfortunately for Jeb Bush, so does his last name.”
Verbatim: Marco Rubio Salutes His Florida ‘Friend’ Jeb Bush
In politics, people throw around the word ‘friend’ so much it often has little real meaning. This is not one of those times. When I call Jeb Bush my friend, I mean he is someone I like, care for and respect.”
— Senator Marco Rubio of Florida sent out a statement welcoming former Gov. Jeb Bush, who will announce his candidacy Monday, to the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Today in Politics: Jeb Bush Is Set to Make Official What Was Widely Known
Good Monday morning from Washington, where, yet again, there is work to be done and drama to watch over the trade bill. But after this week, nearly every hopeful will be formally accounted for on the campaign trail, as Hillary Rodham Clinton held her official kickoff rally on Saturday and Jeb Bush tells us he is, indeed, running for president.
After a six-month period of proto-candidacy, Mr. Bush on Monday will declare at a rally in Miami his plan to seek the office once held by his father and his brother. Mr. Bush, the former Florida governor, is the second candidate to announce his plans in Miami; Senator Marco Rubio, his former protégé, held his rally at the city’s Freedom Tower in April.
The speech, according to his aides, will focus on three themes: his accomplishments as governor, his “heart” to help people facing obstacles in their lives and his desire to earn every vote without compromising his views. To that end, the crowd at Miami Dade College is expected to be heavily Hispanic, a group Mr. Bush’s allies believe he will appeal to in a general election.
His campaign slogan — Jeb! — was unveiled to some mockery on Twitter on Sunday, but it is virtually identical to the one he used in his races for governor, which, his aides argued, shows consistency.
Though speeches are not typically Mr. Bush’s strong suit — he tends to fare better in question-and-answer forums — the event represents something of a reset after a rocky period of seeming unsure how to address his lineage or how to frame an economic message. It is a chance to remind the party’s donors and elites why he was once thought to be Republicans’ best hope of regaining the White House. Since January, his poll numbers have stalled, and his struggle to articulate a clear answer on whether he would have invaded Iraq in 2003 mystified many party leaders.
Mr. Bush’s speech will also be compared with Mrs. Clinton‘s event in New York City on Saturday, a string of policy points that appealed to her party’s base.
Maggie Haberman
Stay tuned throughout the day: Follow us on Twitter @NYTpolitics and on Facebook for First Draft updates.
What We’re Watching This Week
Donald Trump, who received a 27 percent favorability rating from voters in a Des Moines Register poll while 58 percent said they would never vote for him, will announce his presidential intentions on Tuesday, “a big day for our country.”
There will be two large gatherings of candidates this week. From Wednesday to Friday, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, or Naleo, will hold its annual conference in Las Vegas, including a Republican candidate forum on Wednesday featuring Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon; and a Democratic forum on Thursday featuring Mrs. Clintonand Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.And on Wednesday through Saturday, nearly the entire Republican field will participate in the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference in Washington.
With only a few hopefuls yet to become official candidates, there are no wasted trips to the early states as strategies are honed and territories are charted. When not gathered at the Road to Majority event this week, Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard executive, will speak to the Conservative Party of New York; Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky will be in South Carolina; Senator Ted Cruz of Texas will be in Iowa; and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who has not declared but has shown increasing signs that he will do so soon, will hold a town-hall-style meeting in New Hampshire.And Mr. Sanders will travel to Los Angeles on Friday for an appearance on “Real Time With Bill Maher.”
Obama and Congress Consider the ‘What Now?’ on Trade
House Republican leaders will confer on Monday on how to move forward after Friday’s stinging trade defeat, with congressional free-trade advocates looking for President Obama to deliver more Democratic votes over assistance for displaced workers.
Speaker John A. Boehner and Representative Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican and majority leader, will have to decide if it makes sense to try again on worker aid or whether there is another way around what Robby Mook, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager, described on Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” as “parliamentary this and that.”
This and that though it may be, House Democrats managed to derail the push toward a trade deal by opposing the worker aid, which they have historically supported.
House Republicans could try to persuade more of their members to back the trade assistance in order to reach the broader goal of giving Mr. Obama expedited trade negotiating power — a tough sell. Or the White House could press more Democrats to back the president, though there appeared to be little movement on that front over the weekend.
With the House and the Senate passing new trade powers in separate votes, Republicans could also try to get the measure to the president’s desk without the worker assistance. Finding the solution, if there is one, will not be easy.
— Carl Hulse
Clinton Signals the End of Preseason Play
Mrs. Clinton taking on Mr. Obama in Iowa over free trade? Mrs. Clinton offered a mini-tutorial to Mr. Obama there on Sunday on how to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact — like a flashback to their fight for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
Mrs. Clinton’s decision to chime in on important Washington business reflects the new phase of the campaign that she began on Saturday in her first major public rally. Through April and May, campaign advisers compared the initial period of her candidacy with the preseason in the National Football League. Starting with her Iowa trip on Saturday night and Sunday, the events on her schedule now carry particular heft, as Mrs. Clinton will be under increased pressure to opine on topics like trade and field questions from reporters.
It is no surprise that she will engage most directly with voters in a place she feels most comfortable: New Hampshire. On Monday, she will discuss early childhood education with residents of the state that handed her an unlikely primary victory in 2008. She will also host a kickoff party at an orchard near Concord and attend a dinner with Democratic officials in Manchester.
From there, she will continue on to South Carolina and finish the blitz of events with her speech to Naleo. She has already said she would try to go further than Mr. Obama to give immigrants living in the country illegally a path to citizenship, a position that will most likely make her more popular than some of the Republicans who will also address the group.
— Patrick Healy and Amy Chozick
Our Favorites From Today’s Times
After saying very little on the trade deal since she declared her candidacy, and despite repeated calls to do so from her Democratic rivals, Mrs. Clinton in her speech on Sunday said that Mr. Obama should “listen to” Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, about Democratic concerns on the deal.
Mr. Obama‘s failed effort to corral Democrats on trade, Maureen Dowdargues, has shown that “at this pivotal moment for his legacy at home and abroad, his future reputation is mortgaged to past neglect.”
The Upshot looks at Mr. Bush‘s “surprising struggle with moderates.”
What We’re Reading Elsewhere
Mr. Bush‘s expected announcement is a primary focus across publications, as Bloomberg says that “nearly three-quarters of Florida voters have never seen” the former governor on a ballot; and The Wall Street Journal takes a close lookat his obstacles as he “navigates” his family legacy.
And for more on Bush world, Politico examines its money machine, finding that Mr. Bush rarely takes more than a day or two away from fund-raising.
Mrs. Clinton‘s speech has also been the talk of the trail. The Des Moines Register says she is hearing an “eagerness for talk” of a female presidency; and Gail Sheehy, writing in Politico, said that by embracing her “60s surge,” Mrs. Clinton “finally appears to be beyond carefully constructing her identities or letting her advisers to design the persona she presents.”
And the move by Fox News to limit its Republican debate to 10 candidates has been criticized, not surprisingly, by those most at risk of falling outside the chosen. But the two most recent winners of the Republican nomination, Time writes, have also questioned the move.
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