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#JebCanFixIt Not Likely to Work for Parents in FL or US Due to Common Core - Congress Should Listen on ESEA!

November, 2015


Jeb Bush is now to the point of rebooting his failing campaign with a new slogan, #JebCanFixIt, which is getting mercilessly mocked in the media and on line.

Marc Caputo of Politico Florida tweeted:



Nationally syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin of Twitchy and one of her clever followers tweeted:



 
His campaign and the media are attributing his problems to "Trumpmania," poor debate performances, being too stiff and wonky on the campaign trail, etc. but parents and teachers in Florida and across the country as well as sources inside his campaign know the truth. His new slogan cannot "fix" his problem with Common Core and high stakes testing. 
 
There is a stark contrast in political fortunes between those candidates who support the Common Core standards system and those who sincerely and consistently fight it.  No two current candidates illustrate that sharp difference better than Kentucky governor-elect Matt Bevin and former Governor Bush. 
Bevin is a 44 year old veteran and businessman, but arguably his most important credential is "Dad" to his nine beautiful children including four adopted from Africa. As we previously discussed, while Common Core was obviously not the only issue, it was extremely significant in that state that was an early adopter of the horrific standards and aligned tests.  Education in Kentucky has been severely damaged by Common Core as evidenced by the most recent NAEP scores that were even worse than Florida's.
Contrast that to strong Common Core proponent Jeb Bush's plummeting poll numbers not only nationwide and in early primary states, but most significantly, here in his home state of Florida. The influential Washington Post political blog the Fix had a headline on November 3rd that screamed, "Jeb Bush's poll numbers in Florida are unprecedentedly bad" discussing The Bay News 9/Survey USA poll released on November 2nd has Bush polling at 5th in his own state behind Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and for the first time, Ted Cruz.
 
 
 
At a recent statewide Florida Republican Women event, the straw poll showed:
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio won in the presidential contest, capturing 25 percent of more than 100 votes cast. Tied in second place were Texas' U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina with 16 percent. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and real-estate tycoon Donald Trump tied for third 14 percent.
 
And a September Florida Atlantic University poll showed , not only was Bush not leading, but he was upside down in favorability ratings as well:


 

These polls and the many articles like the Washington Post column mentioned above, sum up why the Republican Party of Florida is not having a straw poll at their major presidential event later in November.  The party does not want to embarrass Bush in his own state.  This opinion was seconded by Tampa Bay Times political columnist Adam Smith who said on October 12th:

State party leaders have rebuffed other efforts to hold a presidential straw poll election at the 'Sunshine Summit' later in the month, largely as a favor to Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio who could be embarrassed by weak support among their home state activists.

This is combined with national polls like the most recent Quinnipiac poll showing Bush with 4% in 5th place behind Trump, Carson, Rubio, and Cruz.  Three of these four anti-Common Core candidates (except Trump) also beat pro-Common Core Hillary Clinton in individual matchups. In addition, "Bush has the worst net favorability rating of any candidate, a negative 25 - 58 percent, while Trump gets a negative 37 - 56 percent and Clinton gets a negative 42 - 52 percent." 


In Iowa, Bush has is in 6th place behind Trump, Carson, Cruz, Rubio, and Jindal & Huckabee (tied for 5th) All of those candidates are anti-Common Core at least by their statements.  In moderate New Hampshire, Bush is in 5th place behind all more conservative anti-Common Core candidates like Ted Cruz, except for John issich.

Mr. Bush's problem was well depicted in this meme by AP Dillon:



As Congress is pressured by the education establishment to finish the No Child Left Behind rewrite bill, members need to observe the incredible political damage Common Core is doing to Jeb Bush y his Common Core support bbefore passing a conference report compromise that this president will sign. The bills bein reconciled cement Common Core into place, continue federal testing mandates, and expand psychological profiling, data collection and early childhood.  Nothing will be able to "fix" parental outrage if that happens. It is VERY important to send your members of Congress the national coalition letter at http://bit.ly/1Lj6uz5 to one of their means of contact information:

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