Dole Rips Cruz in NYT January 21, 2016

NY Times:
Bob Dole, the former Kansas senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, has never been fond of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. But in an interview Wednesday, Mr. Dole said that the party would suffer “cataclysmic” and “wholesale losses” if Mr. Cruz were the nominee, and that Donald J. Trump would fare better.

“I question his allegiance to the party,” Mr. Dole said of Mr. Cruz. “I don’t know how often you’ve heard him say the word ‘Republican’ — not very often.” Instead, Mr. Cruz uses the word “conservative,” Mr. Dole said, before offering up a different word for Mr. Cruz: “extremist.”

“I don’t know how he’s going to deal with Congress,” he said. “Nobody likes him.”

But Mr. Dole, 92, said he thought Mr. Trump could “probably work with Congress, because he’s, you know, he’s got the right personality and he’s kind of a deal-maker.”

The remarks by Mr. Dole reflect wider unease with Mr. Cruz among members of the Republican establishment, but few leading members of the party have been as candid and cutting.

“If he’s the nominee, we’re going to have wholesale losses in Congress and state offices and governors and legislatures,” said Mr. Dole, who served in the House and Senate for 35 years and won the Iowa caucuses twice. He described Mr. Cruz as having falsely “convinced the Iowa voters that he’s kind of a mainstream conservative.”

The only person who could stop Mr. Cruz from capturing the nomination? “I think it’s Trump,” Mr. Dole said, adding that Mr. Trump was “gaining a little.”

He said he had met Mr. Trump only once, 30 years ago. “But he has toned down his rhetoric,” he added. As for Mr. Cruz, he said: “There’ll be wholesale losses if he’s the nominee. Our party is not that far right.”

Mr. Dole repeatedly said he was strongly supporting Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, although he acknowledged that Mr. Bush has had trouble gaining traction.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/20/bob-dole-warns-of-cataclysmic-losses-with-ted-cruz-and-says-donald-trump-would-do-better/?_r=0

Poll: Hillary Trails 3 GOP Contenders in Missouri February 20, 2015

The likely Democratic presidential nominee in 2016 would face a hard time in Missouri with three top GOP contenders, according to a new survey.
A Remington Research Poll shows former Secretary of State, Democrat Hillary Clinton, losing to Jeb Bush, or Scott Walker or Rand Paul in head-to-head match ups with likely Missouri voters.
957 likely voters were questioned with a margin of error of 3.2%
The question: if the election were held today, who would you vote vote?
Here are the match ups:

Jeb Bush 50%
Hillary Clinton 40%
Undecided 10%

Scott Walker 48%
Hillary Clinton 40%
Undecided 9%

Rand Paul 47%
Hillary Clinton 42%
Undecided 11

Jeb Bush Stumps for Roberts in Wichita September 29, 2014

AP) – Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is the latest Republican heavy-hitter to come to the aid of Sen. Pat Roberts’ struggling campaign for re-election.

The potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate was in Wichita on Monday for a fundraising event where he told supporters that Roberts would not let them down if re-elected.

Unlike other potential 2016 presidential contenders, Bush has kept a relatively low public profile for much of the year. But he has stepped up his help for GOP candidates as the Nov. 4 midterm election approaches.

His visit comes just days after former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin campaigned with Roberts.

Roberts once was considered a near lock for re-election but now faces a tough battle from independent businessman Greg Orman after the Democratic candidate withdrew

Next: Jeb Bush for Pat Roberts September 29, 2014

(AP)–U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts is bringing in another Republican heavy-hitter to help bolster his troubled campaign for re-election.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will be in Wichita on Monday for a fundraising event for the Kansas senator.

His visit on the campaign trial comes just days after former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin campaigned with Roberts in southeast Kansas. Two former presidential nominees, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, joined Roberts on the campaign trail last week. Another potential 2016 White House candidate, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, is also expected to help him campaign.

Roberts once was considered a near lock for re-election but now faces a tough battle from independent businessman Greg Orman after the Democratic candidate withdrew

Bush 43 Lays Low During Campaign April 2, 2012

Politico:
George W. Bush is everywhere and nowhere in the 2012 presidential race.
Reviled by Democrats and generally avoided as a campaign talking point by his fellow Republicans, the former president is in a self-imposed political exile — an absence that was underscored in the last two weeks as his father and brother backed Mitt Romney.
Bush’s only presence in the Republican campaign is by association, as President Barack Obama’s campaign and national Democrats pin three years of recession and the now-unpopular Mideast wars on the 43rd president. More than 40 percent of voters still blame Bush for the nation’s economic problems. Congressional Republicans hold him at a distance, and some have faulted his policies for helping to give rise to the unpredictable tea-party movement.
“It saddens me, because I think that President Bush, through a perilous time for our country, kept us safe,” said former Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer. “And people forget he came in with a recession, he left with a recession but in the middle, the economy boomed.”
Like many former Bush hands, most of whom declined to speak for the record, Fleischer suggested Bush is getting a raw deal from his fellow Republicans.
“He’s taken a lot of hits, and politicians know how to read polls, and I understand why they’re not asking President Bush to stand at their side. But I think it’s unfortunate,” Fleischer said.
But instead of looking for a second act once off the stage like Bill Clinton — who eagerly interjected himself into the 2008 Democratic primary between his wife and Obama — Bush is, except for speeches and personal travel, in virtual hiding in Texas, where he bought a home in Dallas. Yet friends and former aides say that he has chosen to be in the wings.
“George W. Bush has never needed the mirror of politics to reflect who he is,” said former Bush adviser Mark McKinnon, describing Bush as “at peace” with his current life.
But while none would say it, the reality is that 2012 candidates view Bush with caution. After all, Romney has recruited just about every town councilman and state representative in the country as surrogates, but Bush’s absence as the primary comes to an end — and as his closest blood relatives made endorsements — is glaring.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/74696.html#ixzz1qsxqmvEZ