Former Governor Jeb Bush took an underhanded swipe at Rick Perry yesterday during an interview with Neil Cavuto. The former Florida Governor said that presidential hopefuls should not ascribe bad motives to the Obama Administration, an obvious hit on Rick Perry who said Fed Chairman Bernanke was “almost treasonous” for his Quantitative Easing policies. Bush then went on to say there was no friction between Rick Perry and his family.
Bush said he also supported tax hikes.
The Politico reported:
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush warned the Republican presidential hopefuls against ideological intransigence and knee-jerk opposition to President Barack Obama on Tuesday, saying they risk turning off middle-of-the-road voters.
Asked by Fox News host Neil Cavuto if some Republicans go too far in their criticism of Obama, Bush said flatly, “I do. I think when you start ascribing bad motives to the guy, that’s wrong. It turns off people who want solutions.
“It’s fine to criticize him, that’s politics,” said Bush, the younger brother of former President George W. Bush, who again reiterated that he won’t run for president himself. “But just to stop there isn’t enough. You have to win with ideas, you have to win with policies. … He’s made a situation that was bad worse. He’s deserving of criticism for that. He’s not deserving of criticism for the common cold on up.”
“If you’re a conservative, you have to persuade. You can’t just be against the president,” he added.
Breaking with the GOP field, Bush said he’d be willing to accept new revenues as part of a deficit-reduction package.
“I think the problems are so severe in this country that leadership is required to find common ground and solutions,” he said.