Jeb Bush: GOP Needs To Change 'Tone' To Reach 'Broader Audience'

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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush made an appearance on Meet the Press this weekend, offering a suggestion of sorts for his party's future. To reach a wider audience, he said, the Republican Party needs to change its 'tone of message' in the long term.

'I'm concerned over the long haul, sure,' Bush said. 'Our demographics are changing.'

And while addressing that change doesn't mean altering GOP principles, it does call for a shift, he said.

'We have to change not necessarily our core beliefs, but the tone of our message and our message and the intensity of it, for sure,' Bush said. Citing the upcoming 'close election,' he added, 'Long-term, if conservatives principles our going to be successful and implemented, there has to be a concerted effort to reach out to a broader audience than we do today.'

Exactly what that new 'tone' should be, Bush didn't specify.

Have a look, via NBC:

• Jeb Bush Issues Warning To Republicans: 'We Can't Win On Birther Hate Alone.

• Translation : please stop being racist D*ckholes.
  It's a pipe dream,Jeb

• Well, he can't come out and say 'you're acting like a bunch of nuts!'

  Regardless of the fact that it's true.

• Careful Jeb ' if you don't toe the party line of fear, hate and a desire to drive America back to the 19th century, you're in danger of being labeled a RINO!

• No teabaggers are going to listen to Jeb Bush ' he actually served out his full term as governor.

• well look on the bright side Jeb, they can only go up from zero, even if the current platform seems determined to keep it close to that

• I disagree. The more Republicans alienate Hispanics, women, blacks and poor people, the more honest they'll be to their core beliefs. 

• He might be right, but I refuse to listen to anymore members of the Bush family.  They have a pretty bad track record

• ''GOP Needs To Change 'Tone' To Reach 'Broader Audience.'

  Forgetaboutit, Jeb. We got plenty of broads.

  Besides, Obama has wrecked the Dems for years to come.

  At least, there'll be no far, far, lefty-nutball libs getting the nom for Preezy for a long time.

• Jeb Bush sees the same electoral map that both Republicans and Democrats see and it isn't pretty for Romney. Obama has been leading the electoral map this entire election cycle. Unless Romney increases his percentages with women, blacks and latinos between now and election day, he mathematically cannot win. Romney's only other hope is if those groups just mentioned stay home on election day. Both Karl Rove and Haley Barbour have also discussed the electoral map on Fox about a month or two ago and made similar comments.

  The news media and public tend to only focus on national polls in Presidential elections which is a mistake. The one and only thing that matters is the electoral map. Becuase Republicans have so alienated minority groups and are basically only the while male party, Jeb Bush correctly sees the writing on the wall and it spells a permanent minority party for Republicans unless they start expanding their base.

• He's right. The Republican party is an exclusive party and they know it. They've gone out of their way to alienate everyone but the white male. Worst. Strategy. Ever.

• 'We have to change not necessarily our core beliefs, but the tone of our message''

  Yes, you do have to change your core beliefs, Jeb. You can't have massive tax cuts and reduce the deficit. You can't threaten for more ill-advised wars and be respected internationally. You can't limit the rights of gays and talk about personal responsibility. You can't tell women that they have to carry their rapist's baby to term and pretend you believe in limited government.

• Yeah, it'll be some fake christian, 1950's, hate filled bagger that gets to blame Obama for everything.

• http://goo.gl/QtrJv

• Whata RINO.

• I dunno, I kinda like the Republican party being the party of White males.

  It will make things less complicated when the civil war starts.

• John Ellis Bush, aka, JEB, is asking for the TBGOPers to tone down their verbiages?  OK.  Where were you during GW Bush, Rove and during all the hateful things said about pres Obama?

  What about the nonsense said during the primary debates?  Now he wants them to change?

  OK'.good luck with that.

• I guess the first thing Jeb should do is apologize for abusing the powers of his office to keep his Terrorist Narco supporting kids out of jail on multiple felonies, then he needs to explain why he supports republicans who hold views he claims not to support, so long as he lets the letter 'R' after a candidates name decide his vote he has no real legitimacy on this issue.

• 'We have to change not necessarily our core beliefs, but the tone of our message and our message and the intensity of it, for sure,' 

  The problem is that different elements in the Republican Party have different 'cores.'  Whether or not Romney loses this election, and I think he will for this very reason, the Republican Party must resolve these internal differences.  Otherwise, they face the possibility of a formal split in their ranks.   I personally would welcome the amputation of the more extreme right.  This would leave the remainder with at least a few more political options and greater support from the general public (over 65% of which are not currently Republicans.

• The GOPBagger leadership will ensure that Jeb will soon 'clarify' his statement.  It was far too sane.

• I see quite a bit of spam here, so I will just pass on commenting.

• GOP is already reaching a broad audience'

  - Racists
  - Birthers
  - Gun nuts
  - Anti-choice, anti-contraception fanatics (neo-neanderthals)
  - Religious zealots
  - War-mongering chickenhawks (neo-cons)
  - Anti-immigrant xenophobes
  - Trickle-down economists 
  - Climate-change deniers
   
  The list goes on'