Around The Corner Blog

Jeb Bush's "Follower Power"

Having worked on the campaign of Senator Elizabeth Dole, a common phrase to describe the former Senator was that she had “star power.”  Elizabeth Dole was a household name whether you agreed with her politics or not.  A portion of her star power could be attributed to her husband, legendary Senator Bob Dole, but most was achieved through her own many impressive and well-known accomplishments.

In my opinion, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has star power.  However, I must resort from using star power to describe Jeb Bush, because that title is reserved for Elizabeth Dole, but Jeb does a ton (well 2,035 units) of "Follower Power."  Thus, I will use the phrase, “Follower Power” to describe Jeb Bush.  Only yesterday, Jeb Bush made public his Twitter handle.  In under 24 hours, JebBush has 2,035 and I am sure by the time that I finish writing this post that his number of followers will have increased. 

I think this popularity is indicative of many things with respects to Jeb Bush.  Regardless of the successes or failures of his brother or his father, Jeb Bush’s record is laudable and people seem to judge Jeb as his own person within the dichotomy of his family name. While serving as Governor of Florida, he was well-known for responding to hundreds of emails per day, often with his blackberry.  The average citizen in Florida felt personally connected to him.  These days a politician's success or ability is almost measured more by their online presence (followers) than their bank account (dollars).

This makes me ponder the question, what is next for Jeb Bush?  He obviously has some “Follower Power,” but what will he do with this power and popularity?

I, personally, do not think that we have seen the end of Jeb Bush’s public service, at least, I hope not.