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LeMieux: Differences between Bush and Clinton are clear

 
Published June 16, 2015

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Gov. Jeb Bush kicked off their formal campaigns for president with speeches that drew huge crowds of excited supporters and focused on middle- and working-class Americans.

That is where the similarities ended.

Clinton ran through a checklist of voting blocs, with promises for all. Headed to college? Clinton wants it to be cheaper, if not free. Have a kid in child care? That should be free, too. Have a job? Clinton will mandate your employer give you paid sick leave. Don't have a job? She'll create one for you.

Like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama? She's the best of both. The only groups Hillary is not going to help are CEOs and hedge fund managers. Think she will give up soliciting those CEOs and hedge fund managers for campaign contributions? Not likely.

In tone, theme and message, Bush's speech was markedly different. Instead of listing promises and giveaways, he focused on the overarching solution for what ails America. From a shrinking middle class to reducing our staggering national debt to funding critical infrastructure needs, the one thing that will get America back on its feet and position us for success is growth.

"So many challenges could be overcome if we just get this economy growing at full strength … growth that lifts up the middle class — all the families who haven't gotten a raise in 15 years. Growth that makes a difference for everyone," Bush said.

Why growth? Doubling GDP from 2 percent a year to 4 percent, as Bush said, would add an economy the size of Germany over 10 years. That's more jobs, better jobs and with higher pay. Those jobs let families buy a home, put their kids through college and save for retirement. Those jobs stimulate still more jobs as houses are built, cars are manufactured and the latest technologies become affordable for all Americans. Better still, the tax proceeds from those workers will flood the federal treasury, and if Congress can impose some fiscal discipline as it has in the last two years, those dollars can pay down the debt, shore up Social Security and Medicare, properly fund defense and ensure the promise of America for generations.

What basis does Bush have for extolling growth as the path to prosperity? We in Florida know it well. Under Bush's leadership as governor for eight years, Florida created 1.3 million jobs and 80,000 small businesses — more than any other state. We had 4.4 percent growth and $19 billion in tax cuts.

Florida went from the bottom of the heap in public education to near the top, especially in gains made for African-American and Hispanic children. Bush championed education reform, allowing parents to send their kids to a school of their choice instead of being trapped in a failing one. He fought for the developmentally disabled, passed tougher penalties for those who committed acts of domestic violence, and demonstrated his leadership by steering Florida through five major hurricanes in 14 months.

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Having grown up in Florida, I've seen both sides: the pre-Jeb Florida and the post-Jeb Florida. Before Bush, Florida was a second-tier state almost exclusively reliant on tourism and riding the roller coaster of real estate boom and bust. Our public schools, which I attended, were mostly failing our kids, and we had one of the highest crime rates in America.

After Bush, Florida was viewed as a dynamic destination for tourists and businesses. Florida had a life science industry, vastly improved public education, and a diverse and vibrant culture that had been a source of division but now is a unifying strength. If Bush can do half as much for America as he did for Florida, he will be a spectacular president.

Over the next 17 months, Americans will have the chance to evaluate the candidates. If past is prologue, Clinton and Bush will face off in the general election. One candidate will replay the Obama playbook of promises and giveaways, blame the successful for the problems of the poor, and see government as the hammer for every problem is a nail. . The other candidate will seek "to challenge and disrupt the whole culture in our nation's capital," to slash the size of a bloated federal bureaucracy, to unleash entrepreneurship and creativity and to allow states to innovate in providing services to our diverse tapestry of cultures and communities.

For me and for many Floridians, the choice will be clear.

George LeMieux is chairman of the board of the Gunster law firm and served as a Republican U.S. senator, governor's chief of staff and deputy attorney general. He wrote this exclusively for the Tampa Bay Times.