George P. Bush

George-P-Bush

The fourth-generation heir to the Bush political
dynasty, groomed for office since his childhood, is coming of age and
building a political network. ~ Molly Ball

His great-grandfather was a senator, his grandfather and uncle
presidents, his father governor of Florida. Now a new George Bush is
contemplating going into the family business.

George Prescott Garnica Bush, known to friends as
“P,” is not just a chip off the old preppy block. The 36-year-old son of
Jeb Bush and nephew of W. is Hispanic — his mother, Columba, is from
Mexico — with brown skin, thick black hair, and a toothy, gleaming
smile.

He’s a lawyer, a Navy vet who served in Afghanistan, and a
political fundraiser who works to expand the Republican Party’s outreach
to Latinos and young people.

Chatty without being overly polished, he
lives in Fort Worth with his wife, whom he met in law school at the
University of Texas, and runs half marathons in his spare time.

It’s as
if the ruling class kept pumping out new, less WASPy, more modern
products to keep up with changing demand.

Bush
has been touted as a political prospect practically since he was old
enough to walk.

At 12, he spoke at his grandfather’s first nominating
convention; at 24, he recorded TV commercials for his uncle’s 2000
campaign.

(“I have an uncle who is running for president because he
believes in … opportunity for every American, for every Latino,” he
said in the ad. “His name? The same as mine, George Bush.”)

Of George
H.W. Bush’s 17 grandchildren, he once boasted of being the favorite.

Now, Texas and Bush family observers wonder if his time is drawing nigh.
As soon as 2014, they speculate, he could run for Congress or state
office in Texas.

In Washington this week to tout a new partnership on young voter
outreach, Bush proved adept at the political art of coyly encouraging
such speculation. “I’m weighing that in my own mind,” he said of his
political future. “I’m not specifically looking at anything right now,
but yeah, I’d be open to it.”

He would, he said, want to do it on his own terms, not the strength of his famous name.

“My family has always said … if you’re going to get into politics, do
it for the right reasons, not because you’ve got to carry on something,”
he said.

After graduating from Rice University, he noted, he “taught in
an inner-city high school,” then became a lawyer, launched an
investment company and joined the military.

At this point, he said, he’s
focused on his business, his marriage, and hopefully having kids.

“So I don’t know,” he said modestly, having swiftly and skillfully
recited his sterling political resume. “I’m drawn to public service. I
love politics, but from the sidelines.”

For now, that is. Bush’s Maverick PAC recently transformed from a Texas
to a federal committee, and on Tuesday it announced an initiative to
work with the YG Action Fund — the super PAC extension of House
Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s political operation.

Together, they hope
to bring young voters and donors into the GOP fold — a $5 million
“effort to mobilize and elect the next generation of conservative
leaders.”

He also has a Texas PAC that recruits Hispanic GOP candidates
and frequently speaks on the need for a more moderate GOP line on
immigration.

(The current Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, has been
outflanked by President Obama on immigration, Bush said Tuesday, but
still has “an opportunity to lead” if he will “be aggressive” on the
issue, perhaps by embracing the proposals of Senator Marco Rubio.)

Add up these efforts and it’s clear that Bush is his family’s missionary
to the next American generation, the embodiment and bid for relevance
of the multigenerational political clan.

He’s building a national
network of up-and-coming Republican donors and, with his work to bring
the party’s message Latinos, bridging its widening gap with the
demographic that stands to be pivotal to its future electoral prospects.

“If George P. ever runs, you better believe he will be a Republican that
carries the Hispanic vote,” says his friend Ana Navarro, a Republican
consultant in Florida who is close to Jeb Bush. “He gets inclusiveness
and the big-tent thing.”

Navarro calls Bush “the real deal and a complete package — has
intellect, personality, good looks, business experience, military
service, is bilingual and half Hispanic, and the family connections
don’t hurt.”

Having been an up-and-coming political scion practically his whole life,
Bush seems to finally be on the brink of stepping into his destiny, and
if this is bad news for opponents of dynastic politics, it is music to
the ears of Bushworld.

“A lot of his dad’s friends would love to see him run for office,”
Navarro said. “I hope he gets around to it soon, so we’re not all too
old and tired to help on one of his campaigns.”

 

Molly Ball – July 12, 2012 – TheAtlantic

 

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