Eyeing Jeb Bush in 2012
WHITFIELD: All right. Time for our political ticker update. We're keeping an eye on all the latest headlines at the CNNpolitics.com desk. Here's what's crossing right now. Republican Senator Elect Marco Rubio says Americans have "had it with business as usual in Washington." Today, he delivered the weekly GOP radio and web address. Rubio said this election is a second chance for Republicans to be what they wanted to be. The candidate who narrowly failed in her bid to be Florida's next governor has a new focus for her criticism, the Obama administration. Democrat Alex Sink calls the white house "tone deaf." She says political leaders need to do a better job of listening to and understanding what Americans want. Sink lost the gubernatorial post to Rick Scott. Will there be another President Bush? Some GOP strategists say former Florida Governor Jeb Bush would make a strong and viable candidate for president in 2012. Brian Todd reports.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was the first person to greet rising Republican star Marco Rubio when the Florida Senate race was in the bag. Jeb Bush was a key campaigner for Rubio and some GOP strategists tell us Bush would be a formidable challenger to a now vulnerable president in 2012 if he decides to run. What puts him at the top of the ticket at this point?</s>CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Jeb Bush has the Bush family name, but he was able to stay independent while his father and his brother were president. That takes a lot of talent. He would do very well with Hispanics. He would do well with the tea party folks and across the country and he would still do very well with the establishment. I don't believe there's too many people out there who can carry that many things on their shoulders.</s>TODD: GOP insiders say the former Florida governor's wide fund- raising network would also be crucial, especially going up against perspective challengers Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin. He was highly regarded by both parties as governor. In a critical electoral state, that's another strong attraction. One top Republican official in Florida, who is a close friend of Jeb Bush's, tells us important figures in the party are urging him to run. We couldn't get comment from Bush's office on that. CNN's John King recently asked him whether he would endorse Palin if he didn't run.</s>JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: I'm not running and if Sarah Palin is the nominee and she's running against Barack Obama, you betcha.</s>TODD: Analysts say it was Jeb who years ago who seemed to many inside Republican circles to be the most viable presidential candidate among the Bush siblings. Now for all his crossover appeal, some point to that obvious potential obstacle for Jeb Bush.</s>TODD: How much does that name brand hurt him?</s>RAMESH PONNURU, NATIONAL REVIEW: I think there is no question that the number one political liability for a Jeb Bush presidential run is the dynasty issue. If he had a different last name but the same record of accomplishment, he'd be at the top of everybody's list.</s>TODD: But the Bush name may not do as much harm as it once did. Just last month, in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, on who has been a better president, Barack Obama scored just two points higher than George W. Bush, compared to a year earlier, when Obama was up twenty-three points. The former president's new book is also seen as something of a rehabilitation tour. Brian Todd, CNN. Washington.