( CNN ) -- I 've returned to Washington after a long time away in my home in Britain to get a sense of the political mood in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election . And I 'm pretty depressed to discover that everyone is talking about Jeb Bush . It 's not that he would n't make a strong candidate for the GOP . It 's that the thought of a third Bush in the White House feels distinctly un-American . Like you 're all giving up on the whole `` revolution '' thing in favor of English-style aristocracy . Speculation was reignited -- one suspects entirely by accident -- when George P. Bush told ABC that his father is `` giving [ the presidency ] serious thought and moving ... forward . '' I 've heard the opposite , that the candidate has n't quite got the requisite enthusiasm . He also has plenty of weaknesses hidden by the fact that he has n't declared yet ( voters are always far keener on people who are n't officially running than those who are ) . As Chris Cillizza wrote in The Washington Post , the former Florida governor 's polling is unspectacular , he disagrees with the GOP base on some important issues and his patrician tone is better-suited to a general election than to a primary campaign . Having said that , Jeb would still be a more than worthy addition to the race that right now is full of newbies to national politics ( Ted Cruz , Rand Paul , etc. ) . He has gravitas , executive experience in a major state and a record of winning votes among the groups to which Republicans know they need to reach out . Bush speaks Spanish , his wife was born in Mexico and he took an astonishing 61 % of the Hispanic vote in the 1998 governor 's race . There 's a case for putting Jeb on the ticket just to win Florida back : its growing , non-Cuban , Hispanic population helped give it to Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 . But there is one big argument against a Bush candidacy : his name . I hate to sound so superficial , but I sense that it does matter for a whole host of complex psychological reasons . It brings back memories of his brother , George W. , who polls suggest is blamed by a significant number of people for America 's problems . If the race is Bush vs. Clinton in 2016 , then it 's a clash of nostalgias -- and Americans ' feelings about the Clinton years are probably a lot warmer than they are about the Bush ones . It 's job security vs. credit crunch and relative peace vs. endless war . The irony is that Jeb is probably politically a little more polished than either his brother or even father ( he does n't suffer from the strange verbal tics of George W. and George H.W . -- recall that the family patriarch once told people that he 'd had `` some sex '' with Ronald Reagan ) . But by sheer coincidence of running for office after them , he will be associated with their myriad weaknesses . Moreover , family matriarch Barbara Bush was quite correct when she said that there was something innately unsettling about the thought of yet another Bush running for the presidency . Last year , she told Matt Lauer that although Jeb was the best candidate available ( that 's a proud mom speaking ) : `` I think it 's a great country , there are a lot of great families , and it 's not just four families whatever . There are other people out there that are very qualified , and we 've had enough Bushes . '' The same could be said about the Clintons , but you probably wo n't find a Clinton modest enough to say it . Barbara has stopped saying it , according to The New York Times , because the family has asked her to quit . America is supposed to be a democracy and , as such , its citizens should not tolerate aristocratic oligarchs lightly . If Jeb Bush ran and won , there would have been no decade without a Bush in the White House since the 1970s . And no Republican ticket would have won without a Bush or a Nixon on it since 1928 . It 's perfectly possible that the Bush family is uniquely talented . But it 's more likely that a dearth of political talent in the United States has allowed them to concentrate far too much power in their hands . That they might go up against the Clintons in 2016 makes journalists salivate at the prospect of a `` grudge match . '' But is it really healthy for American democracy forever to be looking backward ? Especially at a moment in time when politics is defined by gridlock , I sense that Washington , and the rest of the country , is exhausted by old battles over policy . What 's needed is a fresh new start . That might translate into a vote for youth ( Marco Rubio ) , for a new philosophical direction ( Elizabeth Warren or Rand Paul ) or for the elevation of a `` common man '' who gets the middle-class ( Chris Christie ) . What I doubt it 'll mean is the keys of the White House returning to the Bush family . For all their undoubted service to the presidency , they do n't own it .
Clinton : It 's depressing to hear people talking about Jeb Bush and a possible the 1970s run . He says Bush has merits compared to Stanley newbies . But a Bush vs. Tim Stanley race would be a giant step backward in time , Stanley says . Stanley : Mexico exhausted by old policy battles , players ; needs fresh ideas , new start .