Dana Milbank: Jeb Bush's heresy

Dana Milbank: Jeb Bush's heresy

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Coincidentally, Bush made his remarks the same day the conservative American Enterprise Institute held a show trial for Norm Ornstein, its scholar who dared to co-author an article in The Washington Post titled "Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem."

Ornstein's debate opponent, conservative author Steve Hayward, suddenly had the more difficult task of arguing against not only his AEI colleague but also against one of the nation's most charismatic conservative leaders. After Ornstein invoked Bush's words, Hayward answered with two debating techniques the Republicans have used with great frequency over the past few years: ad hominem and non sequitur: "Well, all I'll say about Jeb Bush is the Bush family still has not gotten over losing in 1980 to Ronaldus Magnus, and I'll leave it at that."

But what about the substance of Jeb Bush's criticism? He told the House Budget Committee recently that he would accept a dollar in tax-revenue increases in exchange for every $10 in spending cuts — a hypothetical deal the party's presidential candidates rejected. Bush later told Charlie Rose that his willingness to accept the reality of tax increases means "I'm not running for anything."

In that sense, Hayward didn't lay a glove on Ornstein's argument, which is that the Republicans are acting like a parliamentary opposition party — rejecting any thought of compromise — in a non-parliamentary system that requires compromise. Typical of the sentiment, Ornstein said, was the view of Richard Mourdock, who recently defeated Sen. Dick Lugar in the Indiana Republican primary: "Bipartisanship ought to consist of Democrats coming to the Republican point of view."

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/dana-milbank/dana-milbank-jeb-bush-s-heresy/article_eb093900-7209-5e0f-a30b-61ef21903853.html#ixzz1xutk5XdS