In today's New York Times, Adam Nagourney in a piece titled "In a Polarizing Case, Jeb Bush Cements His Political Stature" sure appears to give the edge in the first primary of 2008 to Jeb Bush.
Gov. Jeb Bush's last-minute intervention in the case of Terri Schiavo, even after the president had ended his own effort to keep her alive, may have so far failed in a legal sense, but it has cemented the religious and social conservative credentials of a man whose political pedigree is huge and whose political future remains a subject of intense speculation.Nagourney may have been right when he wrote that piece yesterday, but things are changing rapidly down there in Florida. Today, Jeb may be in some trouble over the case. In an Associated Press article from this afternoon, the entire burden for "saving" Ms. Schiavo appears now to be placed solely on Jeb by her family:
On one level, the Florida governor's emergence as the most prominent politician still fighting, despite a string of court and legislative defeats, to have a feeding tube reinserted in Ms. Schiavo was very much in keeping with someone who has repeatedly declared a deep religious faith.
Several associates noted that he had been devoutly religious longer than President Bush, and even critics said his efforts - prodding the Florida Legislature and the courts and defying much of the electorate - were rooted in a deep-seated opposition to abortion and euthanasia rather than in political positioning.
On Thursday, Bush said his powers "are not as expansive as people would want them to be. ... I cannot go beyond what my powers are and I'm not going to do it."So how Jeb fares in this remains to be seen. The stakes for him continue to be raised. And, the way it looks now, for that hard core base of right wingers, anything short of Jeb breaking down the doors of the hospice to kidnap the poor woman is not enough.
But Paul O'Donnell, a supporter of the parents, contended the governor still has the power to take her into protective custody.
"Bob and Mary are begging Governor Bush to save their daughter on this Good Friday day," O'Donnell, a Franciscan monk, said after Friday's ruling. "Now is the day. Now is the time for the governor to have courage. The governor needs to take action and take action soon. She's dying."
UPDATE: Atrios reports that "Cowardly Jeb" cancelled a Good Friday appearance today. The Press Release from the Christian Defense Coalition is titled "Gov. Bush Cancels Appearance at Good Friday Service for Fear of Facing Schiavo Supporters."
