When the legacy media in Maine latches onto an idea, many who have been around the block more than once take a skeptical pause. For reasons that are themselves eyebrow arching, Maine’s “mainstream” press seem intent on the idea that long-time summer person and recent year-rounder Jonathan Bush should be the Republican nominee for governor next year.
On Monday, the Bangor Daily News ran an exclusive story that Bush, 56, has launched an exploratory committee. A nephew of former president George H.W. Bush and cousin U.S. president George W. Bush and Florida governor Jeb Bush — as well as Billy Bush of Access Hollywood fame — Jonathan was born with one of America’s most famous political surnames, indeed that of a dynasty.
This week’s article followed on an earlier piece the BDN ran earlier this year on Bush that centered on his belief Maine is thinking too small when it comes to our economy — being humble little peasants, thinking small may be our lot, but in that article the scion of the famous political family urged us to broaden our conceptual horizons, which was big of him, really.
The real reason for the March article in Maine’s once somewhat conservative newspaper was to announce Bush’s podcast “Maine for Keeps” which aims to “jumpstart the dialogue about the things that hold Maine back,” which in itself is a worthwhile endeavor. Episodes to date have focused on zoning and construction laws, nuclear energy, and the failure of the state to integrate communications and record keeping between police departments — all of which are legitimate questions of the sort someone considering a run for governor might pose.
As his thinking on Maine politics developed, Bush reportedly took a Maine reporter “for beers” on a boat cruise to North Haven, home of Maine’s First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D) who, like Bush, is a high net worth individual.
“Jonathan Bush has the tanned, weathered face of someone who spends a lot of time on the water, with blue eyes and an asymmetrical smile,” The New Yorker observed in a 2018 feature around the time he was separated from Athenahealth, a company Bush founded. “He’s prone to say whatever comes into his head, alternating between bracing honesty and complete outrageousness.”
When his health care company was taken over by vulture fund manager Paul Singer, who is believed to have originally financed the infamous Steele Dossier on Donald Trump before the Hillary Clinton campaign picked it up in 2016, Bush set off looking for new challenges. That search led him to a year-round move to Maine, a state where his famous family has summered for generations.
During the COVID pandemic, Bush purchased former gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler’s Cape Elizabeth home for a whopping $7.6 million (in fairness, this was before Cutler was revealed to be a pedophile). This choice of a home-base brings to mind an earlier era in Maine politics.
Two-term Maine Governor John R. (“Jock”) McKernan surrounded himself with the Cape Elizabeth elite during his eight years as the state’s chief executive. Reporting at the time depicted the Blaine House as being ringed by parked BMWs. Yet those days of more than three decades ago have long-since passed, and the Republican Party – both in Maine and the nation – has changed. Did Bush get that memo?
Today’s Maine Republicans view the Bush legacy warily, just as Jonathan Bush voices clear distaste for U.S. President Donald Trump. These parallel facts don’t necessarily make him an obvious choice for GOP nominee, but strange configurations are not unprecedented – even in next year’s gubernatorial race in which Oxford County Republican Senator Rick Bennett has already announced an independent candidacy with early overtures to the left as opposed to the right side of the political spectrum.
“I think he really needs to find himself first,” a long-time acquaintance of Bush’s told The Maine Wire when asked about his potential political viability.
On a day when declared candidates for governor on both sides file their first campaign finance reports, Bush – who is worth an estimated $10-80 million – can afford to bide his time. Currently there are two businessmen – Falmouth’s David Jones and Gorham’s Owen McCarthy – running for the Republican nomination, but that list could grow.
A figure believed to be Bush’s Maine campaign consultant did not immediately respond to a request for comment. For now, the answers to his aspirations will most likely be found on his podcast.
