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Jeffrey Gillespie: Jeb's lament Friday Nov 27, 2015 at 12:01 AM In 2016 Republican presidential politics, the bigger and noisier, the better. The rise of Donald J. Trump as a frontrunner with bigoted rants aimed at, well, any minority outside of the top 1 percent, as well as of Dr. Ben Carson, a brain surgeon who believes that the jury is still out on climate change and that no Muslim should serve in high office in America, makes it clear that a quiet, measured, or nuanced political posture is a deterrent to a successful bid for a GOP presidency. All the rhetoric being thrown around by the meatheads on the electoral podium has been something of a bafflement to John Ellis “Jeb” Bush, second born son of a former president, younger brother to another, and former governor of the third most populous state in the Union. Despite working in politics for over 35 years, Bush seems wholly unprepared for political exposure at a national level. He possesses neither the scholarship nor the stoic political skills of his well-connected father. He has none of the capacity for raw-meat, red-state appeal that propelled his older brother into a two-term presidency. Despite his long experience and name recognition (two factors that perfectly positioned him as the GOP's establishment choice for the nomination), Bush’s campaign has faltered without a sufficiently media-savvy leadership team. It was unthinkable, even a few short months ago, that any member of such a preeminent political dynasty would be gutting his campaign staff and reducing overhead in order to stay competitive with “that immigrant-bashing carnival barker,” Donald Trump. And, even as The Donald continues to lead the ticket despite more and more bizarre comments, there are whispers in Washington that Bush’s only remaining supporters are a handful of old-school Washington insiders loyal to his father. He has also, inadvertently, become the poster boy for a lack of resistance to the far-right elements that have propelled Trump’s bid so far. That’s unfair to Jeb — God knows, the lunatic fringe isn’t about to take a chill pill administered by anyone who they might consider to be a "mainstream" candidate — but it does show the voting public that Bush’s campaign is stuck in a 1990’s time warp; it is not operating with the lusty visibility that almost always translates to a win in the news cycle. Bush is a rotary phone man in a wireless world. He’s taking his cues from Kennebunkport, and while navy blazers and quiet puzzlement might work on Walker's Point, they aren’t translating on the world stage. Jeb looks like a bewildered chipmunk who has wandered onto the debate platform by mistake while trying to find the bar at the Capitol Hill club. Add to this the fact that Barbara Bush said in 2013 that there have been “enough Bushes” in the White House and you can see why the governor is doomed; even his own mother doesn’t quite believe that Americans would be dumb enough to elect another of her sons so soon after the disastrous presidency of George the Younger. That’s the current Republican rub; even their most mainstream candidate seems to come from slightly too nutty a bloodline for serious consideration. As a result, the core of the party is at a loss as to what should happen next. In the meantime, the Freedom Caucus and their tea-bagging buddies have hijacked the process and are on track to endorse perhaps the looniest candidate ever. Democrats are almost certainly going to nominate one of the most well-prepared, tough, and driven career politicians in party history, Hillary Clinton, a leader who will certainly garner many votes from independents and undecideds if the only alternative is Trump. The Grand Old Party needs to find a viable candidate, and fast, unless they’re interested in another eight years of Democrats ruling the White House. In this columnist's opinion, it’s already too late. Ashland resident Jeffrey Gillespie is a Tidings columnist and freelance writer. Email him at [email protected].