One year, two races: Inside the Republican Party’s bizarre, tumultuous 2015

"Romney believed that, if he passed on the [2016] race, Bush would be the most likely nominee. Privately, he harbored serious doubts about Bush’s ability to beat Clinton. He recalled thinking, “I like Jeb a lot, I think he’d be a great president, but felt he was unfairly but severely burdened by the W. years — and when I say the W. years, it’s not only what happened to the economy, but the tragedy in Iraq.” He added, “A Bush-versus-Clinton head-to-head would be too easy for the Democrats.”

What happened in Iraq was predictable and predicted. It was a tragedy that could have been easily avoided.

Bush did the best he could to wreck the economy too.

Walt