Politics

A Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Clinton Prez Race Would be a DISASTER for Millennials

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George W. Bush says his younger brother Jeb should run for president. Bill Clinton says "I don't know what Hillary's going to do, but whatever it is, I expect to support it." So the former Florida governor and former senator and secretary of state kinda sorta have the backing of family (fwiw, Jeb's ma doesn't him to run).

More important than what their kin think is the simple fact that a Clinton-Bush math-up in 2016 would be a disaster for Millennials and other Americans under the age of 65.

From my latest column at Time.com:

If it's far from clear what sort of personal calculus at which Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton may yet arrive, there should be no question that a Clinton-Bush race would be bad for those of us not related to either. America has never been particularly fond of dynasties (apart from psychotics, who really likes the Yankees or the Kennedys?), and representatives of one or both of these families have been running for president basically since at least 1980. More importantly, their clans have been central players in an increasingly vicious and rancorous era in politics whose chief effect has been to drive a record number of Americans to declare themselves to

be political independents. If we're so concerned about inequality in America, what sort of message does it send to strivers that we can't go a decade without gifting a Bush or a Clinton free housing, use of a private jet and the mother of all expense accounts?…

Under Jeb's brother and Hillary's former boss, the Boomer-led government has racked up debt that younger Americans will be paying off for generations if not centuries to come….

The fact that more and more young people are living with their parents is usually seen as something approaching a tragedy for both kids and parents. You can't move out if you don't have a job. Now comes word that Baby Boomers are refusing to retire because they feel forever young. Can't the White House at least be one place in America where a younger American can finally move out to?

Read the whole thing.