( CNN ) Ben Carson suggested to CNN on Wednesday that prisons can turn straight people gay . Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee called being gay a lifestyle choice , like drinking alcohol . I guess the next thing these two presumed 2016 presidential hopefuls will tell America is being black is a choice , too . Like it or not , it 's no wonder Jeb Bush is emerging as the Republican Party 's 2016 frontrunner . Of course , there is that awkward little name thing , something he seems fully aware of -- despite only being in the exploratory phase of a potential campaign , Jeb has already declared he 's not just another Bush . `` A lot of people know my dad , they know my brother . As in everybody 's family , we 're all a little different , '' he reportedly told a crowd in Las Vegas this week . And he seems to keep trying to distance himself from his family . `` Do you have brothers and sisters ? Are you exactly the same ? '' he insisted . Yet Jeb is banking hard on the same vault of donors and operatives his father George H. W Bush and his brother George W. Bush used in their presidential campaigns . He 's already raising lots of money , asking donors recently not to give more than a still eye-popping $ 1 million to his super PAC . `` They did n't need to be persuaded , '' Howard Leach , a Republican fundraiser for Jeb , told the Washington Post . So , what exactly is in a name like Bush ? Apparently , a whole lot of cash , which helps win presidential nominations and elections . And if Jeb wins the nomination in 2016 , it will likely be less `` joyfully , '' as he promised last year , than ruthlessly . After all , we 're still more than 18 months from the election and Jeb 's locking in many of the same kinds of consultants that worked with his brother and father . `` Those who hold out can sense a distinct chill , '' noted a recent New York Times article . Jeb 's campaign is seeking to hire `` donors , advisors and operatives , '' wrote the Times , with `` deep connections to the Bush family 's past presidential campaigns and administrations . '' Those same family members from whom Jeb swears he 's different ? And if consultants do n't abide by Jeb 's rules of loyalty and decide to work with other 2016 Republican aspirants ? `` Swift rebuke follows , '' the Times notes , pointing to the example of IMGE , a technology company that reportedly fell out of favor with the Bush campaign after one of the firm 's founders indicated IMGE was hoping not to be tied to a single candidate . None of this is to suggest that Jeb Bush does n't have appeal as a candidate -- I like some of the things he did as Florida governor , like his record of cutting $ 19 billion in taxes and supporting school choice programs . ( Although I 'm not a fan of his willingness to grant illegal immigrants amnesty in any shape , fashion or form . ) He seems more equipped to lead America and get things done than some others in the already cramped horse race like New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie , who seems more concerned with telling people off than sounding presidential . Then there 's Rick Santorum and Huckabee , caring Christian men , but both too consumed with running for president of morality than bringing the entire country together after years of Obama supposedly dividing us on race , religion and sexuality . But what troubles me a little about Bush 's early attempts at `` corning the market '' is that he 's relying on the same consultants that have cycled through the last 20-plus years of elections -- some of whom worked for Romney 's campaign . This raises the question of why , if Jeb does n't want the public to view him as just another Bush running for president , he seems to be relying on the Bush network of consultants ? The same playbook that helped get his brother and father get elected president is n't going to work for this Bush . The demographics of the country have changed , but it seems unlikely the Republican Party and its operatives have changed with it . The truth is that any Republican candidate who wins the nomination will have to refrain from business as usual . He ( let 's face it , the GOP wo n't nominate a woman ) will have to hire minorities and women in meaningful campaign positions and have a strategy to aggressively compete for minority votes . This is something Romney did n't do nearly enough of . Jeb is only in the `` pre-presidential '' phase , ruminating over the idea . But he appears to be assembling a lot of the same old ( white ) faces of recent losing Republican campaigns we 've seen before . As a black conservative who would like to see a Republican in the White House again , I hope Jeb is n't Romney 2.0 .
Crystal Wright : fat Bush emerging as GOP 's presidential nominee . Previous Bush playbooks wo n't work this way , she says .