Little bubba blues: With the ghost of Terri Schiavo haunting his political career and a demonstrated inability to get any of his pet legislation passed in Tallahassee this session, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush strikes us as among the lamest of lame ducks. Besides that people just don’t like him, and a fair number people don’t recognize the president’s little brother’s name, according to today’s National Journal PollTrack.
In a FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll only about a quarter of respondents said President George W. Bush’s younger brother would be a “strong candidate” if he ran for president in 2008; 62 percent said he would not. Only 36 percent of Republicans said he would be strong, compared with 21 percent of independents and 18 percent of Democrats. When asked the general question if Jeb would make a good president just 22 percent answered affirmatively.
Only 28 percent of those polled said they had a favorable view of Jeb. Forty-five percent said they had an unfavorable view, and 21 percent weren’t sure.
Jeb apparently lacks name recognition as well: 6 percent said they had never heard of him, one of the highest percentages among the nine prominent politicians polled. (Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) tied Jeb Bush, and only Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) was higher with 7 percent.)
Jeb also came up short when pollsters pitted him against potential presidential candidates in 2008. He garnered just 35 percent in a hypothetical matchup with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who got 51 percent. Former Vice President Al Gore had 50 percent to Jeb’s 33 percent.
Meanwhile, Jeb’s big brother fared a little worse than last month in a new American Research Group poll. George Bush’s job-approval rating came in at 32 percent, down 2 points since the group’s April poll.
Wow: “Only 36 percent of Republicans said he would be strong.”