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Jeb Bush For President In 2012?

One element of Gen. George Washington's personal life that made him an appealing choice for first president to many early Americans was his lack of biological children.

That diminished fears of a new inherited monarchy being established in the newly independent U.S., according to Washington biographer Ron Chernow.

So it's doubtful that early Americans, the original Tea Partiers, would be real keen on an idea some are pushing that former Florida governor Jeb Bush, younger brother to one president and son to another, should also run for the White House.

Rich Lowry of the National Review is one who's pushing the idea. He acknowledges how the very thought runs afoul of republican (small "r") sensibilities.

But, he apparently has gotten past any reservations. In writing that Bush should run in 2012 to oppose Obama's re-election instead of waiting until 2016, Lowrey writes:

There's no doubt that it will always be awkward for Jeb to be the third Bush; it will always have a dynastic feel about it. But that will remain as true in 2016. If Jeb runs in four years, after Obama presumably wins a second term in 2012, he will still be vying to be the third Republican president in a row who's a Bush. Waiting until 2016 won't make that fact any less odd.

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Frank James joined NPR News in April 2009 to launch the blog, "The Two-Way," with co-blogger Mark Memmott.