Leaked: Democrats' attack plan for Bush

The Democratic National Committee wants surrogates to attack Jeb Bush as the Mitt Romney of 2016, an out-of-touch representative of the 1 percent who is more conservative than he lets on.

DNC strategists hosted a private conference call Friday to prepare Democrats going on the Sunday news shows to address the former Florida governor’s announcement this week that he will actively explore a run for president. A participant on the call shared the talking points with POLITICO, and a DNC official confirmed their veracity.


The talking points offer a window into the Democratic plan of attack against the GOP establishment figure. It is also a strong indication that Democrats view Bush as a formidable general-election candidate, if he can make it through a GOP primary.

( Also on POLITICO: Hillary vs. Jeb)

“Jeb Bush has spent his career doing what would benefit himself and people like him – certainly not looking out for working Americans,” the talking points say. “Bush spent recent years cashing in on Wall Street as Americans were hit by the financial crisis. Since leaving public office, Bush has been involved in several problematic business deals, creating a multi-million dollar fund in a tax haven, and leveraging his family name to reap profits for himself.”

Democrats also signaled they will try to lash Jeb Bush to unpopular aspects of George W. Bush’s White House tenure.

“But we also know what to expect from a Bush presidency because we’ve seen it before: policies that wreck the economy, that give massive breaks to the wealthy and corporations, and that are out of step with American people including women, LGBT Americans, Latinos and people of color,” the talking points say.

On Friday evening, Bush responded with a message on his Facebook page.

“Everywhere I go, people tell me how tired they are of the dysfunctional, squabbling silliness of politics today. These silly talking points, misleading and misinformed as they are, show you just how void of ideas the Democrats have become after six years of poor results in every area of our nation’s business, from our struggling economy to our weakening position on the world stage,” he wrote.

“If I do decide to run for President,” Bush continued, “I can promise you this: no more Kindergarten attack politics. Instead, I would offer a substantive campaign that will present the fresh conservative ideas and meaningful reforms that will help all Americans to rise up, seize opportunity and pursue a better life for themselves and their loved ones.”

Bush then reprinted the talking points in full on his page.

The 600-word DNC document pushes back on the narrative that Jeb Bush is relatively moderate compared to the rest of the field. The impetus for the push is that some leaders on the right have been criticizing Bush as insufficiently conservative on issues like Common Core and immigration. The concern for Democrats is that Bush will be more appealing to independent voters if the perception of him being willing to challenge GOP orthodoxy solidifies.

There are targeted appeals at various constituencies. Democrats note controversial Bush quotes about opposing the Equal Rights Amendment, the Paycheck Fairness Act and equal pay. There are also attacks on Bush over his opposition to gay rights and for saying that gay couples should not be able to adopt. And he has defended his support for voter ID laws, which many African-Americans see as discriminatory.

But the brunt of the attacks focus on Bush helping the wealthy at the expense of the needy, which worked to President Barack Obama’s advantage in the 2012 campaign against Romney. Bush has reportedly told allies that he will push back earlier and more aggressively than Romney did when his record at Bain Capital was criticized.

“Jeb Bush is looking out for himself and people like him over the priorities of everyday Americans,” the suggested DNC talking points say. “On that point he is no different than the rest of the Republican field.”

There are also past quotes from Bush about issues affecting women and African-Americans. Democrats are also encouraged to point out that Bush endorsed the conservative budget blueprint of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).