Well, the Super Bowl is over, and election season is in full swing. Super Tuesday is upon us. It's a two-way battle on both sides. Clinton and Obama are fighting it out on the Democratic side, while McCain and Romney are battling on the Republican side (Huckabee's all but finished). Here's something interesting (at least it is to me): Every Republican presidential ticket since 1976 has had either a Dole or a Bush. Every single one. Have a look:
1976 Ford-Dole
1980 Reagan-Bush
1984 Reagan-Bush
1988 Bush-Quayle
1992 Bush-Quayle
1996 Dole-Kemp
2000 Bush-Cheney
2004 Bush-Cheney
Ever since all of us associated with this blog have been eligible to vote, a Bush or Dole has been one of our choices on the presidential ballot. So it stands to reason that we should put our money on Jeb Bush or Neil Bush being the running mate of whomever wins the nomination on the Republican side (unless Bob Dole is taken out of cryogenic suspension). Jeb Bush has had some family troubles though. I guess his family is the the Bush family equivalent of Billy Carter or Roger Clinton:
- Noelle Bush (that's her on the right), the daughter of former governor of Florida Jeb Bush, has been arrested multiple times for various drug and alcohol offenses, prescription forgery, and served time in jail in 2002.
- George P. Bush, son of Jeb Bush, broke into his ex-girlfriend's family house and drove circles in their front yard with his car during a fit of rage.
- John E. Bush, Jr., son of Jeb Bush, was caught by the police, literally, with his pants down in a parking lot, having sex with a teen-age girl. He was also arrested for public drunkenness and resisting arrest down in Texas.
Doesn't look too good for Jeb. Neil's family is not so embarrassing, but there is some personal sketchiness there:
- Neil was on the board of directors of Silverado Savings and Loan during the 1980s. Silverado collapsed in 1988, costing taxpayers $1.6 billion. Neil Bush was accused of giving himself a loan from Silverado, but he denied all wrongdoing.
- There was a curious deal earning $2 million with Grace Semiconductor, run by Jiang Mianheng, the son of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
- Divorced his wife in 2003, in part because of his own marital infidelity. He admitted to having sex with women on trips to Thailand and Hong Kong. The women, he said, simply knocked on the door of his hotel room, entered and had sex with him. He said he did not know if they were prostitutes because they never asked for money and he did not pay them. Uh huh.
- His daughter Lauren is a model (shown at right). Very nice.
I don't know who the republican ticket will include, but if the ticket does not include a Bush or a Dole, I know I'll feel a little disoriented. I won't be sure who to vote against. Who am I kidding - I'll know exactly who to vote against.
Interesting bit of trivia that I picked up from wiki. Lauren Bush is dating (or was dating at some point in time) Ralph Lauren's son David Lauren. If they get married, will she be Lauren Lauren?
On the another political topic, I found this nice post from "Hey Jenny Slater" about the upcoming election.
