If Prescott Bush Loses in Texas, to Which Member of the Dynasty Might the Party Someday Turn?

What T. S. Eliot wrote of the world holds true of political dynasties. They end “not with a bang, but with a whimper.” Just ask the Romanovs, Habsburgs, or Plantagenets, if you can find them. Camelot feels like another continent for the current crop of Kennedys, and the Clintons are a long way from Hope. Without the Kennedy glitz or the Clinton two-steps of setbacks and comebacks, the Bushes have established themselves as one of the great families in American politics. The family’s patriarch, Prescott Bush, migrated to Connecticut from Ohio, and represented the Constitution State in Congress. Reborn as Texans, his son and grandson would both become president, a feat matched only by the Adamses. Another grandson, Jeb, would mount a failed run for the White House after serving as Florida’s governor. For 12 years over two generations, a Bush sat in the Oval Office. Their fingerprints are visible all over late 20th century America — and early 21st. One Bush is hoping that the past is a prologue. He is George Prescott Bush, 46. Every one of his names echoes his illustrious forebears. Mr. Bush — George P. — is Jeb’s son, and he is running for attorney general in Texas in today’s primary. Another Bush, on whom more in a moment, is far from politics, but could yet author the family’s most illustrious next chapter. Unlike the rest of his family, Mr. Bush has thrown support behind President Trump, whose thumping of Jeb Bush in the 2016 presidential primary made that man’s name a shorthand for political underperformance. His opponent, however, is Ken Paxton, whose bona fides when it comes to the last president are difficult to beat. Mr. Paxton sued to block certification of the 2020 election returns, and he spoke at the January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally alongside Mr. Trump. He has secured Mr. Trump’s endorsement, even as he faces his own headwinds including an indictment for securities fraud in 2015, for which he has yet to stand trial. The Associated Press reports that the FBI is separately investigating Mr. Paxton for corruption. Senator Cornyn, a fellow Republican, calls the delay in trying Mr. Paxton an “embarrassment.” This did not stop Mr. Paxton from garnering a 20 percentage point margin of victory in the first runoff of the election for attorney general. An April poll from the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation disclosed that 40 percent of GOP primary voters, who once propelled his uncle to Lone Star State governorship, said they would “never” vote for Mr. Bush.The Republican Party that revolved around the Bushes like the moon around the sun for so many years is now in an entirely different orbit, headquartered not in Texas but in Southern Florida. Mr. Trump’s triumph repudiated the 43rd president just as much as the 44th. Perhaps eyes should not turn to the likely doomed Mr. Bush, but to his cousin, Jenna Bush Hager. Mrs. Hager hosts a segment of the “Today” show. It is no mean feat for a conservative scion to succeed in NBC’s halls. She has also crafted inroads in publishing, the film industry, and the nonprofit world, and has well over a million followers on Instagram. There is precedent for a jump from television personality to the political arena. With Mr. Bush likely to face a shellacking in the primary, a return to glory for the Bushes seems likely to involve not following the traditional playbook, as George Prescott seems to be doing, but in rewriting it like Mrs. Hager. The original Prescott Bush, after all, was never the type to wear cowboy boots.

If Prescott Bush Loses in Texas, to Which Member of the Dynasty Might the Party Someday Turn?

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