Jeb Bush: Dissing Sarah Palin?

Jeb Bush had "extremely faint praise" for fellow Republican ex-Gov. Sarah Palin, telling the conservative website NewsMax that Palin has great "charisma" and would make an "incredible candidate" for higher office—if she developed "some depth of understanding" of our complex world. "I don't know what her deal is," he added. "My belief is in 2010 and 2012, public leaders need to have intellectual curiosity." Will criticism from the Bush clan end Palin's political hopes? Will it end Jeb's? (Watch Sarah Palin slam Rahm Emanuel in a recent spat)

Jeb just stomped on Palin's future: Jeb Bush's "breathtakingly candid comments" are devastating, says Toby Harnden in The Daily Telegraph, and "hard to dispute." After 18 months on the national stage, Palin still hasn't formed "intelligent conclusions or questions" about the world. The critique is all the more withering because Jeb's "one of the strongest GOP candidates in 2012 should he wish to run."

"Jeb Bush on Sarah Palin: 'I don't know what her deal is.'"

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Sorry, Jeb Bush is the one who's finished: The "other brother" Bush's trashing of Palin was "a particularly stupid and annoying move," says Dan Riehl at Riehl World View. Whether he meant to or not, he's just given up any chance he had at the White House. You'd think Jeb would know better than to stoop to such elitist criticism, since liberals leveled the same insults at his brother, George W., and Ronald Reagan.

"Jeb 'The Other Brother' Bush suggests Palin lacks intellectual curiosity"

Palin's supporters won't care: Jeb's criticism about Palin's lack of intellectual curiosity "seems fair enough," says Alex Massie at The Spectator. But it won't faze "her most fervent supporters" in the GOP—Jeb's already "suspect" to them as an indisputable "part of the party's establishment."

"Bush on Palin: Charism ain't enough"

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SEE THE WEEK'S LATEST COVERAGE OF BUSH & PALIN:

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