Bewildered by 2016 race, George W. Bush returns to the trail to boost Jeb

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bewildered-by-2016-race-george-w-bush-returns-to-the-trail-to-boost-jeb/2016/02/12/49cf7242-d1a6-11e5-abc9-ea152f0b9561_story.html

GREENVILLE, S.C. — The 2016 campaign has bewildered and captivated George W. Bush. At home in Dallas, the 43rd president rises before dawn and reads political news online. He fires off emails to his old advisers to check on the latest campaign-trail ­gossip. He tunes into the debates, even though they stretch past his bedtime.

In private and among friends, Bush and his wife, Laura, express amazement at an election season that has been hijacked by Donald Trump. At a get-together last month, Clay Johnson, a lifelong friend, recalled that he and Bush said to each other, “Can you believe what’s going on?”

“He, like everybody else in America, is taken aback,” Johnson said. He and Bush chewed over the race for 30 minutes, including the rise of Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side. Johnson said Bush told him he thought expectations for his brother, Jeb, were so low that he could rebound by springing a surprise in an early state — a place like South Carolina.

On Monday — Presidents’ Day — Bush will try to help Jeb do just that. After deliberately avoiding politics throughout his post-
presidency, Bush is stepping back into the arena for an evening rally in North Charleston with his brother, the former Florida governor.