When Jeb Bush launched his ill-fated presidential bid in June of last year, he made the announcement in both English and Spanish. Bush would also sit down for at least one interview in which the language spoken was Spanish, and I believe that his campaign rolled out some Spanish language ads as well. He is married to a Mexican-American woman, and Bush is fluent in her native tongue. Clearly, the Bush campaign felt that their candidate was uniquely positioned to appeal to Hispanic voters and proceeded accordingly. And if Donald Trump had decided to do another season of The Celebrity Apprentice, instead of running for president, the strategy might have paid off for Bush.
Bush isn't the only Republican 2016 candidate who is fluent in Spanish. Both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are the sons of Cuban immigrants, and presumably speak the language at least as fluently as Bush. But I can't recall having heard either of them speaking Spanish on the campaign trail. In fact, both men go to considerable lengths to downplay their heritage, and they make no special attempt to appeal to Hispanic voters. As a teenager Cruz changed his first name from Rafael to Ted, and never looked back. Just as relevant is the fact that the immigrant experience for white Cubans, like Cruz and Rubio, is altogether different than what most Hispanic immigrants to this country experience.
All of which means that Jeb Bush would have had a decent enough shot at attracting Hispanic voters, that is if he hadn't abruptly ended his outreach after a couple of months. Because while Bush celebrated Mexican heritage in his announcement speech, Trump actually attacked Mexican immigrants when he delivered his own announcement speech. And he would follow that up by brutally attacking Bush for having the audacity to speak Spanish during his own campaign events. Trump told him pointblank during one of the debates that he should speak English in this country, and we haven't heard Jeb utter a word in Spanish since that night. He pretty much left his cojones behind when he walked off that stage.
Bush might hang on after tonight's results in Iowa, but he would only be prolonging the inevitable. He is expected to finish far back in the pack and his prospects don't look any brighter moving forward. His presidential bid never got off the ground, and the fact that he has been on the main stage for every debate is nothing short of a travesty. If that process were above board, Bush would have been relegated to the undercard long ago. But the combination of his family name, and the seemingly limitless amount of money his campaign was willing to burn through, was enough to buy him a free pass to the main stage each time.
Bush isn't the only Republican 2016 candidate who is fluent in Spanish. Both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are the sons of Cuban immigrants, and presumably speak the language at least as fluently as Bush. But I can't recall having heard either of them speaking Spanish on the campaign trail. In fact, both men go to considerable lengths to downplay their heritage, and they make no special attempt to appeal to Hispanic voters. As a teenager Cruz changed his first name from Rafael to Ted, and never looked back. Just as relevant is the fact that the immigrant experience for white Cubans, like Cruz and Rubio, is altogether different than what most Hispanic immigrants to this country experience.
All of which means that Jeb Bush would have had a decent enough shot at attracting Hispanic voters, that is if he hadn't abruptly ended his outreach after a couple of months. Because while Bush celebrated Mexican heritage in his announcement speech, Trump actually attacked Mexican immigrants when he delivered his own announcement speech. And he would follow that up by brutally attacking Bush for having the audacity to speak Spanish during his own campaign events. Trump told him pointblank during one of the debates that he should speak English in this country, and we haven't heard Jeb utter a word in Spanish since that night. He pretty much left his cojones behind when he walked off that stage.
Bush might hang on after tonight's results in Iowa, but he would only be prolonging the inevitable. He is expected to finish far back in the pack and his prospects don't look any brighter moving forward. His presidential bid never got off the ground, and the fact that he has been on the main stage for every debate is nothing short of a travesty. If that process were above board, Bush would have been relegated to the undercard long ago. But the combination of his family name, and the seemingly limitless amount of money his campaign was willing to burn through, was enough to buy him a free pass to the main stage each time.
