Jeb Bush and his brother

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) knows it’s coming, and when voters ask him to name ways in which he differs from his brother or father, he doesn’t back down. On Friday, he told someone who asked this in New Hampshire that it wasn’t a relevant comparison because 2015 isn’t 2000 or 1988. He remains polite throughout: “getting into the differences with previous presidents, I don’t think is particularly relevant.”

{mosads}No matter what you think of Bush, and his president-relatives, he is clearly a decent man if he refuses to throw his brother under the bus. It is clear from his comments about his dad that he reveres President George H.W. Bush, and his less-popular brother is the constant subject from skeptics on the campaign trail, but Jeb has never dumped on W. George W. Bush even acknowledged this week that Jeb’s problem is him, the 43rd president himself. But for W. to say that is one thing — Jeb would be a different person if he criticized his own family.

After a sustained period of ferocious fundraising and “frontrunner” status, Jeb Bush is struggling to take off. He knows it. Joking on Friday that he isn’t expecting a coronation — in a likely reference to his protege Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) entering the race — Bush said: “I’m really intimidating a whole bunch of folks, aren’t I?” Bush appears quite humble, and is clearly reading polls that show he is actually not leading the pack in support, though he is in dollars.

“I will have to earn it. No one’s going to give it to me,” Bush concluded. Because of his brother, earning it may be quite difficult. And in his refusal to overtly distance himself from his brother, it may be harder for him than anyone in the field. Doing the right thing may not help his race, but it is still the right thing.

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