Will George H.W. Bush vote for Hillary Clinton? Yes, says a Kennedy
In this March 29, 2015, file photo, former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush appear at an NCAA basketball tournament in Houston. By Tom Benning Follow @tombenning tbenning@dallasnews.com
Washington Bureau
Published: 20 September 2016 10:53 AM
Updated: 20 September 2016 11:29 AM
WASHINGTON — A Bush is going to vote for a Clinton — according to a Kennedy.
Former President George H.W. Bush — a critical figure in the rise of the modern GOP — reportedly told a member of the Kennedy clan on Monday that he would vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over his own party's candidate, Donald Trump.
That's all according to former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend's Facebook page, Politico reports. Townsend, Robert Kennedy's daughter, posted of photo of her shaking Bush's hand, adding the cutline: "The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!"
More than just a gossipy affirmation of America's closely knit political circles, the admission — if true — would mark a cutting rebuke by the GOP's former standard bearer.
Bush 41 spokesman Jim McGrath took to Twitter to push back on the reports, saying that "it's not clear anyone was there to verify" Townsend. He cautioned news outlets to "keep your powder dry," adding that he's "still checking."
But McGrath stressed in a written statement that Bush would not be commenting on the White House race.
"The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 day," McGrath said.
For any former president to part so viscerally with his party in a White House year would be a major statement.
It would be perhaps especially significant coming from lifelong Republican like Bush. And such a declaration could add further grist to the White House race in Texas, the Bushes' home state where Trump holds a single-digit lead.
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The split also wouldn't necessarily be a surprise.
Bush and his son former President George W. Bush said in May that they would be sitting out the 2016 general election. That decision was a big deal in and of itself, given that their silence stands in contrast to the family's deep involvement in presidential campaigns for decades.
And George W. Bush had previously targeted Trump during a rare return to the campaign trail in February. Barely veiling his jab, the younger Bush said then that real strength is "not empty rhetoric, it is not bluster, it is not theatrics."
"Real strength -- strength of purpose -- comes from integrity and character," he said. "And in my experience, the strongest person usually isn't the loudest one in the room."
Part of the tension between Trump and the Bushes is personal.
Trump bullied former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with glee during this year's GOP primary. He paid little deference to former first lady Barbara Bush. And he attacked the notion that George W. Bush kept America safe by pointing to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
"That's like saying the team scored 19 runs in the first inning, but after that we played well," Trump said in February. "I don't think so."
Poster Comment:
I think Daddy Bush has lost his marbles.