It turns out some of Jeb Bush’s allies in Washington are “flabbergasted” by his botched response to a question about the Iraq War.
The former Florida governor is likely to run for the Republican presidential nomination next year.
I believe I know the answer to why Bush’s confusing responses triggered by a single question has baffled his GOP allies.
It’s because of all the questions he should have expected from the media, this was at the top of the list. He should have been uber-prepared to answer it cleanly, crisply and without hesitation.
The question came from Fox News’s Megyn Kelly. Knowing what we now know, governor, would you have gone to war in Iraq? That’s more or less how Kelly pitched the question to Bush. His first answer? Yes, I would. Then he said he “misheard” the question. Then he said he “misinterpreted” it. Then he said, “No.”
Is he ready to become president of the United States? Some of his friends are worried. Others say he’s just “rusty,” having been out of elective office for a decade.
Whichever the cause of his early stumble, Jeb Bush had better get rid of cobwebs. In a hurry.
Gotta disagree. He should have been uber Prepared to answer whether he would have gone into Iraq with the information at the time.
Asking him the question in light of what we know now is about as informative as asking him whether he would have passed the football on the goal line in the waning seconds of the Super Bowl.
The more informative question, and thus more likely, is whether he thought the evidence at the time warranted our action. And it’s really easy to hear what you expect to hear..
This whole episode makes a lot more sense if you just tack on “with the information available then,” to everything.
Thanks.
Jeb is clearly not ready for prime time. This is certainly a question he had every reason to be prepared for, and have a well thought out and concise answer. All he wants to talk about is how illegal immigrants are better than Americans. Ask him THAT question and he can go on for hours.