AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — George Prescott Bush is gearing up to run for a little-known but powerful office in a state where his family already is a political dynasty and where his Hispanic roots could help extend a stranglehold on power Republicans have enjoyed for two decades.
The 36-year-old Fort Worth attorney says he is close to settling on campaigning for Texas land commissioner next year. He doesn’t expect to make up his mind until he knows what Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a fellow Republican, decides to do.
“We for sure are running, the question is the office,” Bush told The Associated Press during the first interview about his political future since filing paperwork in November to seek elected office in Texas.
Bush’s father is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, his grandfather is former President George H.W. Bush and his uncle is former President and Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Perry has been governor since George W. left for the White House.
Land commissioner traditionally has been a steppingstone to higher office, but Bush said little about any plans to eventually become a national political force. Instead, he spoke of how his past experience as an asset manager would help him manage the Permanent Schools Fund, which pays for public education and is managed by the land commissioner. He also said his perspective as an Afghanistan war veteran will help him use the post to become a leader in veterans’ affairs.
Bush said he would announce his final decision after the Texas Legislature adjourns in May but added that his choice will depend “where the governor’s thinking is.” Perry, who flamed out as a presidential candidate but remains popular in Texas, says he’ll reveal this summer if he will seek another term.
Some have speculated that Bush could challenge Perry for governor — and even if he doesn’t, what Perry decides will trigger political dominos falling. Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson plans to run for lieutenant governor next year, creating a vacancy in his office. But Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, may himself run for governor in 2014, meaning his post could be open too.
Bush suggested he’d be willing to wait his turn politically rather than immediately seeking top positions coveted by others in the state GOP. “We’ve said that we want to be team players in the party, providing a younger, fresher vision for our values,” he said in the interview Friday.
Bush speaks Spanish, and his mother Columba is from Mexico. Conservatives view George P. Bush on the ballot as a way to solidify support among Hispanics. A Democrat has not won statewide office in Texas since 1994, but Hispanics tend to vote overwhelmingly Democratic and accounted for two-thirds of Texas’ population growth over the last decade. Bush noted: “We’ll be majority Hispanic in six years.”
“I don’t necessarily agree with the idea that having a candidate of Hispanic origin, or someone who can speak Spanish, can automatically obtain these votes,” Bush said of Hispanics. “Having said that, it’s important tactically to have candidates that understand issues of the community.”
Bush’s mother has said that one of the reasons she and Jeb Bush left Texas for Florida in the 1970s was because she felt like she had experienced racism here. But George P. Bush said, “the way I view it, rather than an issue of discomfort, is economic opportunity.”
“This has been, at least for our generation, the best place to be economically,” he said of Texas and its record of strong job creation. He said he didn’t think there was more intolerance toward Hispanics in Texas.
“Obviously, I think that issue exists wherever you go,” he said. “I don’t think it’s just unique here.” Bush said of trying to stand out among his famous political family, “It’s always been the thing of my grandmother to say, ‘Go out and make a name for yourself’ and that’s something that I’ve followed.”
“But who better to ask for advice on politics than two former presidents and a former governor?” he said. “They’re not involved in the day-to-day operations. They’re not involved in formulating my ideology. It’s more of an informal advice.”
Bush said his grandfather inspired him to join the military, and he was deployed to Afghanistan as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He said that before enlisting, he knew politics was in his blood but felt he was too inexperienced to run for office.
It wasn’t until the last few months, however, that “I felt it was time for my generation to step forward in state politics,” Bush said. Bush now spends his time crisscrossing Texas and the country, raising money and meeting with supporters. He was in Austin on Monday and posed for pictures outside the state Capitol before disappearing into meetings with legislators.
Someone he didn’t see, however, was Perry. The governor said Bush’s seeking elected office is a good thing for Texas and the Republican Party, and that he would like to speak to him about it adding: “He knows my phone number.”
But then, Bush has his uncle to turn to for Texas gubernatorial perspective. “It’s much like starting a business,” Bush said, “and having people who have been there and done it and run statewide, it’s definitely been helpful.”
Texicans might get BUSHWHACKED again it seems
We have been experiencing a troll attack directed against From the Trenches. Apparently, there have been a few trolls who have been laying low and acting like they are a part of the movement.
The attacks have been directed not at me, but at our site, starting with ChewyBees saying we were acting in coalition with the mainstream media in putting up an article about the flag being stomped on.
And then there was oldranger68 who wrote a comment so profane in his description of homosexual acts that I took it down immediately. Again, it was suggested that From the Trenches was a controlled site. For any of you regulars who would like to see this trashy comment I will email it to you and you can judge for yourself.
Then this morning we have Erin who asks the question, “Is From the Trenches censoring our posts?” Why would we post something and then censor it?
This could be just a straight up government attack because we have been instrumental in attacking this gun confiscation bullshit for what it is. Or it could be a John Stadmiller/Alex Jones attack as Alex Jones has been saying all week that anyone who says anything negative about him is working with the new world order. Of course he does not identify those in the new world order as for some reason he can’t say the word, “Z-Z-Zionist”.
Look for these treasonous trolling parasites to be slandering our site on other patriot sites and let them know that we know exactly who and what they are and that From the Trenches is not going to be stopped.
We have seen our enemies try every trick in the book to shut us down but if they think a couple of no talent pukes can harm us in slander, they do not understand what this site is and the nature of our resolve.
Make no mistake; our enemies hate us because we refuse to buy into any kind of divide. In reality this post isn’t even necessary but I felt compelled to vent. LOL
I miss all the good stuff.
(Reposted from another article)
Hi Henry,
Right you are!
Every site that expresses outrage at the treason occurring, refusal to submit to tyranny, and recognizes the US Constitution, especially the 2nd Amendment, is a target of our treasonous gov’t, which is NOT an American gov’t,.. but an, “Enemy Force In Occupation”.
Although “From The Trenches” has no special immunity against trolls or their propaganda attacks,… you, and the rest of us that support you and this site have an unusually high ability to spot the trolls almost instantly.
Unfortunately, like any ambush, you don’t know exactly who or what, until they have attacked and exposed their true postion, but like any well trained scout team, we recognize the threat once it has exposed itself, then eliminate it.
Real Patriots are consistent in their loyality and view points, and therein lies the strategy for detecting all the fakes, the trolls, and the gov’t paid schills who have to earn their treason pay every single day.
Henry, we will find, identify and route them out each and every day as their rear their ugly little, treasonous heads.
Don’t worry, this is one of the few sites under the watchful eye of loyal Americans, Patriots, Vets,.. and God.
God Bless you and this site.
JD – US Marines – Day 30 Of The 2nd American Revolution.
Thanx for the heads up….did notice some broken threads earlier……
You would think that anyone named “Bush” would never be allowed to hold political office again, but apparently they rely on the American people being dumb as rocks.
God help us all. A Mexican Bush!
lol no shit. They just want him president so that they can bring the remainder of the Mexicans into this country to merge their North American Union. He clearly fits the profile. He’d try to setup a bridge or play the race card between Texans and Mexicans with his nationality much like Obama does. Another new class, ethnic, and social warfare game, ready to be played. The elite are just using his nationality and name for their North American Union political purposes.
Please, oh please NOT another Bush. Have we not suffered enough dear Lord!
Right now, I’m ready to beat the hell out of anyone named Bush. WE DON’T NEED ANYMORE BUSHES!!! The damn family bloodline needs to get hacked. People in Texas don’t want anymore Bushes either. It’s another bullshit MSM propaganda thing just like Romney. Political party fraud as always.