Yes, Please Run!

A report appeared today showed former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, is being asked by Florida Republicans to challenge Senator Bill Nelson in 2012. Four years after his last term as Governor ended, Bush is still a very popular figure within the state. As governor, he was a strong leader, kept taxes in Florida low, attracted new residents to the state, as well as new businesses, and was also the first Republican in Florida to serve two terms as Governor. His leadership further cemented Florida as being a state more friendly to Republicans. In a hypothetical matchup, Bush leads Nelson and I believe that if he runs, Bush will win in a very easy contest. Bush will win the reliably red portion of the state in the panhandle, northern Florida and Southwest Florida. He will also do much better than most Republicans in Southwest Florida, especially with his popularity among Seniors and Hispanics. And in the most important region of the state, the I-4 Corridor, a region which I covered during the Midterms, he will also win, as this region has been economically hammered and it is my belief, especially after an analysis of the 2010 Election, that the voters who went heavily for Obama in 2008 are aware of the ramifications of that vote and their current circumstances, therefore, they will not make that mistake again.

I doubt Nelson's popularity, as he won re-election in a Democrat year against a weak candidate in Katherine Harris, who many in the Republican Party, sadly, did not fully back, instead, sending her out as a sacrificial lamb. Florida is quickly becoming a stronghold for Republicans, as was proven this fall. Nelson is already starting to run a little scared, as he is coming out against the Administration on their NASA policy, as he rightly should, considering he was once an astronaut, and the fact that NASA is a major employer in Central Florida.

The next cycle will likely be a year where Republicans are favored and Jeb Bush gives Florida its best chance to make sure Senator Marco Rubio has a partner, who in their representation of Florida, will espouse and advocate for Conservative, small government solutions to the problems that Florida and the United States have endured under the Obama Administration.