Jeb, you're disappointing me (even though I would never vote for you)

By Richard Barry

Until about a week ago, I believed Jeb Bush's eventual victory in the GOP presidential nomination sweepstakes was a slam-dunk. I really bought into the narrative his team was spinning that he might not shine on a day-to-day basis, but, over time, his steady intelligence, fundraising prowess, and ability to appeal to the establishment power brokers in the party would eventually lead him to victory.

But then came that seemingly straight-forward question, in a Fox interview of all places, on whether or not he would have invaded Iraq "knowing what we know now." As I have said elsewhere, and despite what others have written, the answer, whichever way he went with it, was not going to be fatal. But then it was "oh-I-misheard-the-question," then "I-love-my-family-too-much-to-say" and finally, "no-I-would-not-have-invaded-if there-were-noWMDs," and only saying this as if to add, "if you insist on wasting my valuable time with meaningless hypothetical questions."

Holy crap. Jeb's an amateur. Who knew?

More than the issue itself is the sloppy way he handled it. And this isn't immigration reform or Common Core education policy, stuff that most expect to be a problem for him. Jeb Bush looked cranky, unsure, and generally peeved about having to answer a very basic question.

Well, I'll tell you what, that dog's not gonna hunt. Jeb Bush will not succeed unless he can find a way to be a moderately accessible candidate, capable of at least pretending he's willing to answer relevant questions when they are posed.

Guess I'll have to start paying attention to what Scott Walker is up to.