Reagan Wouldn’t Make It

By JULIET LAPIDOS

June 11, 2012, 2:53 pm

 
Charles Tasnadi/Associated PressRonald Reagan and George H. W. Bush on Nov. 10, 1988.

Jeb Bush told reporters in New York City this morning that neither his father, George H.W. Bush, nor Ronald Reagan would find purchase in today’s Republican Party.
“Ronald Reagan would have, based on his record of finding accommodation, finding some degree of common ground, similar to my dad, they would have had a hard time if you define the Republican Party — and I don’t — as having an orthodoxy that doesn’t allow for disagreement,” he said.

He also rejected the Republican line that Mr. Obama is primarily to blame for the sluggish recovery: “I think we’re in a period here for the next year of pretty slow growth; I don’t see how we get out, notwithstanding who’s president. We’ve got major headwinds with Europe and a slow down for Asia as well.”
This marks the second time this month that Mr. Bush moved against his party (defying the 11^th Commandment in a generalized sense) and drew attention to G.O.P. ideological rigidity. On June 1 he criticized the Norquist anti-tax pledge, saying “I don’t believe you outsource your principles and convictions,” and signaled his approval of a hypothetical deficit-reduction compromise that would include new revenue as well as spending cuts.
When I wrote about his June 1 remarks, some commenters assumed that Mr. Bush was laying the groundwork for a 2016 run. That seems unlikely, but even if he’s motivated by strategy rather than conviction, isn’t that a good thing? It means a national politician thinks compromise and moderation are politically viable, even within the G.O.P.