Jeb Bush Cites Weaving a ‘Web of Civility’ with Dems Among Immediate Would-Be Presidential Priorities

In a conference call hosted by the Alabama Republican Party on Wednesday night, former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL), a potential candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, fielded a question from Alabama Republican Party chairwoman Terry Lathan asking what his first major action or order of business might be once he was elected.

Among those priorities he cited included dealing with the regulatory “alphabet soup” with a goal of reform in mind, undoing by executive order what his predecessor President Barack Obama had done through executive order that may have undermined the Constitution and to strengthen U.S. foreign policy by bettering our standing with our allies, which he cited to be Israel, Canada, Germany, our Latin American neighbors, Japan and Korea.

But he also went on to suggest that working across the aisle with Democrats would be a priority.

“Those three or four things would be the first things that I think are important,” he said. “The final thing I would say, Terry, which may sound a little unorthodox is to actually talk to Democrats. It’s extraordinary this president has no relationship with Republicans. There’s no trust because our president doesn’t believe that is a priority. You know, to fix big things, you have to do it in a bipartisan way. There’s never been a time in American history where you jam it down the throats of the other party and expect a good result. Obamacare and Dodd-Frank – these are examples of horrible policy and it was done without any support of any single Republican. So if we weave a web of civility where you don’t violate your principles by actually talking to people who don’t agree with you – it’s an essential part of restoring democracy in this country so we start fixing things.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor