“The Anti-MAGA”: Blood-Soaked Bush Family Plots Revival Of Political Dynasty

The Bush family, whose neoconservative war-hawk policies dragged America into catastrophic Middle East quagmires costing trillions and countless lives, is plotting a brazen political comeback, even as voters from all sides have rejected their reckless globalist agenda.

Jonathan S. Bush, cousin of former President George W. Bush and nephew of former President George H. W. Bush is gearing up for a potential run for Maine’s governor, according to Newsweek, in a move that reeks of dynasty revival despite the family’s tarnished legacy.

Despite George P. Bush’s humiliating 2022 defeat in the Texas attorney general GOP primary, Jonathan, a former health care executive, is testing the waters with an exploratory committee and a new nonprofit, “Maine for Keeps,” aimed at tackling the state’s economic and housing woes. The Bangor Daily News reported that George W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush rolled out the red carpet for their cousin at a swanky Kennebunkport fundraiser this week.

According to Brandon Rottinghouse, a University of Houston political science professor, Bush-style politics are “like the anti-MAGA” and that the “tone and issue profile of most modern Republicans are different from the Bush family politics,” adding “Republican primary audiences are now conditioned to a more aggressive breed of conservatism, one district from the Bush family political legacy.” 

Meanwhile, Ronald Schmidt, professor of political science at the University of Southern Maine, told Newsweek that there are still Republicans in the state who would support a Bush.

“There are still Republicans in Maine who have fond memories of the Bush family, and some who support an idea of moderate, or at least non-Trumpish, conservatism who could well be open to such a candidate, and there are Republicans who hope to follow Trump’s political path. I don’t think it’s been established yet which faction is stronger,” he said, adding that Mainers “like the image of themselves as independents.”

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Colby College political science professor Dan Shea told Newsweek the state’s Republicans are split down the middle. “Republicans in state are really roughly divided between the more Bush-like traditional Republican, the more Yankee Republican, and the Trump-LePage Republican. My best guess is about 50-50,” Shea said.

The professor didn’t mince words about the Kennebunkport fundraiser, warning it could backfire with Maine’s salt-of-the-earth rural voters.

“That he would have a fundraiser with just a handful of people in Kennebunkport, that doesn’t play particularly well to much of rural Maine,” Shea jabbed. “Kennebunkport is very distinct. It’s very different.”

When pressed on his gubernatorial ambitions, Bush’s team dodged with a bland statement: “He’s been fortunate to receive the support and counsel of Mainers from all over the state and all walks of life, and especially proud to have his family standing strongly by his side.”

This Bush resurgence comes as no surprise, but it could once again stir up bad blood with former President Donald Trump, who’s long clashed with the family’s establishment brand. Trump torched George W. Bush’s legacy in 2016, hammering him over the Iraq War debacle and the 2008 financial meltdown and crushed Jeb Bush’s 2016 campaign.

George W. reportedly branded Trump a “blowhard” and griped about his “Make America Great Again” agenda , keeping his distance during Trump’s presidency while subtly knocking policies like the Muslim travel ban. With Maine’s GOP base still fired up by Trump’s populist energy, Jonathan Bush’s bid could be a long shot for a family desperate to claw back relevance.