Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush on Friday picked up endorsements from two Texas newspapers, besting primary rival Ted Cruz, represents the Lone Star State in the Senate.
The editorial boards of both
the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News said Bush was the best candidate to represent the Republican Party in a general election.
The Chronicle cited Bush’s family ties to Texas, where his brother, former President George W. Bush, served as governor, and urged Texas voters not to vote for Donald Trump or Cruz.
“Fortunately, a former Florida governor with Texas ties offers Republican voters a much better choice,” the editorial says.
“It’s our hope that Republican primary voters give Jeb Bush a second look,” it continues. “He may not be a great candidate, but he would be a great nominee – and a capable president.”
The Express-News condemned Cruz’s 2013 fight to shut down the government over ObamaCare funding.
“While Cruz, too, appeals to conservative Americans who are sick of business as usual, the freshman senator has demonstrated a frightening willingness to push the American economy to the brink of disaster to pursue his ideological agenda – even when he clearly does not have the votes to get his way,” the editorial says.
The paper characterizes Bush as pragmatic on the issue of illegal immigration, not prone to “cheap, crowd-pleasing applause lines” like Trump.
“Instead, he is suggesting a realistic approach that will provide a rigorous, lengthy path for the millions of immigrants already here – and entrenched in the U.S. economy – to earn legal status,” it says.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/269363-texas-newspapers-endorse-bush-over-cruz
