The Bush Is Back

Looking for a fresh sign that GOP confidence is reaching full tilt? Try this on for size: The Bush brand is making a comeback. Unthinkable just a few months ago, to be sure. But that's our take after talking to two pols with Bush ties who dropped by the Watergate yesterday.

-- First, there was IN Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), a former Bush OMB dir., whose WH'12 aspirations plummeted alongside Bush's second-term approval ratings, forcing him to rule out a '12 bid last year. But Daniels told the WaPo that he recently decided to "stay open to the idea" of a WH'12 bid because, as he later told NJ reporters and editors, "lots and lots of people have said, 'Please, don't just, don't say never, never, never.'" One of those "people," he readily admits, is Bush.

-- For a different perspective, The Hotline sat down 2/22 with ex-Houston Mayor Bill White, the likely Dem nominee for TX GOV. While he said he twice opposed Bush for pres., White wouldn't bite at our bid to engage him in a quick round of Bush bashing. "I've always respected the office of president," he said, "and I have always respected those who have held that office." That's hardly the answer we would have received from Dems a year ago, even those from Bush's home state.

-- So, is the Bush brand really back? For the real answer, we'll have to ask Bush. Not George, of course, but Jeb.