Jeb Bush For President In 2012?

Enlarge this image toggle caption J Pat Carter/ASSOCIATED PRESS J Pat Carter/ASSOCIATED PRESS

One element of Gen. George Washington's personal life that made him an appealing choice for first president to many early Americans was his lack of biological children.

That diminished fears of a new inherited monarchy being established in the newly independent U.S., according to Washington biographer Ron Chernow.

So it's doubtful that early Americans, the original Tea Partiers, would be real keen on an idea some are pushing that former Florida governor Jeb Bush, younger brother to one president and son to another, should also run for the White House.

Rich Lowry of the National Review is one who's pushing the idea. He acknowledges how the very thought runs afoul of republican (small "r") sensibilities.

But, he apparently has gotten past any reservations. In writing that Bush should run in 2012 to oppose Obama's re-election instead of waiting until 2016, Lowrey writes: