Jeb Bush: Reagan, Dad Wouldn't Make It in This GOP

Today's Republicans wouldn't back a leader like Ronald Reagan or George HW Bush, says the latter's son. "Based on his record of finding accommodation, finding some degree of common ground," Reagan, as well as Poppy Bush, "would have a hard time if you define the Republican party—and I don’t—as having an orthodoxy that doesn’t allow for disagreement," Jeb Bush told reporters today. "They got a lot of stuff done with a lot of bipartisan support," including the elder Bush's budget deal that helped grow the economy, Buzzfeed notes.

While he noted that today's GOP climate is "temporary," the former Florida governor blamed both "left and right" for "this dysfunction"; President Obama, for instance, should have "focused on things where there was more common ground." Bush also offered some tips to Mitt Romney on immigration: Instead of embracing Republican anger over immigration, the candidate should focus on the economic issues associated with it as he appeals to Hispanic voters. As for the current economy, Bush offered little hope: "We're in decline." (More Republican Party stories.)