Jeb Bush

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, acting under emergency authority approved earlier in the day, ordered a feeding tube restored Tuesday to a brain-damaged woman recently taken off life support at her husband's request. Bush's order came at the end of two days of rapid legislative and executive action in the case of Terri Schiavo, 39, who has been in a coma-like state since 1990. Critics said the law that authorized Bush's action might be unconstitutional.

When it became clear that the disputed Florida election could deliver the White House to his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush immediately recused himself from any official role in the recount, promising to avoid even the "slightest appearance of a conflict of interest." He directed his staff to spend their time on government business and pledged to do the same. Vowing that no political work would be done on the taxpayers' dime, six staffers took unpaid leaves to volunteer on the recount.

While the political hurricane roared through this state capital, Gov. Jeb Bush struggled to stay in the calm of the eye. But it wasn't just the fate of his older brother, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, at stake in Florida's presidential election fiasco. It was his own. Democrats itching to regain power at the statehouse say the popular Republican governor may have damaged his prospects for reelection in 2002. Even state GOP leaders admit he has lost ground, especially among African American voters.

Though it seemed both a little late and a little early for such a discussion, politicians in Florida were talking Wednesday about ways to overhaul the state's balloting system. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush took the first bite at the apple, announcing this week a plan to form a blue-ribbon commission to study election procedure. But black lawmakers were cynical. They said they do not believe that Bush will do anything concrete about a problem that affects them in a major way.

This week's Republican National Convention will be a gala reunion for the Bush family, party bigwigs and the GOP's prospective presidential candidates in 2008. Conspicuously absent will be one person who fits all three categories: Jeb Bush. Younger brother of the president, governor of the biggest battleground state and the Bush brother long considered by family and friends as the most likely heir to the family dynasty, Gov.

Florida's state attorney said there was no evidence Terri Schiavo's collapse 15 years ago involved criminal activity, and Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday declared an end to the state's inquiry. Bush had asked State Attorney Bernie McCabe to investigate Schiavo's case after her autopsy last month. He said he now considered the state's involvement with the matter finished.

Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday signed a bill aimed at reducing medical malpractice insurance costs as trial lawyers vowed to challenge a provision that caps some lawsuit damages. The bill signing ended a months-long dispute among Florida Republicans over what Bush called his top priority -- lowering malpractice insurance costs to keep doctors from limiting or closing their practices. The issue, however, is far from resolved.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Friday that he will seek reelection next year, setting the stage for a political battle royal that likely will become a nationally watched referendum on his older brother's performance in the White House. Democrats inside and outside the state are eager to punish the governor for President Bush's narrow, and highly disputed, victory here last fall, which put him in the White House. Eight Democrats--including former Atty. Gen.

President Bush embarked on a delicate balancing act Wednesday as he ended a self-imposed moratorium on overt campaigning to keynote a $500-a-head fund-raiser for his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The president also attended a $10,000-per-couple fund-raiser for the Florida Republican Party; the event's beneficiaries will include Katherine Harris, the secretary of state who played a controversial role in the disputed 2000 presidential election. Harris is now running for a seat in the U.S. House.

"Republicans have ignored the black voters of this state," GOP gubernatorial candidate Jeb Bush confessed during a recent televised debate. "And I was a part of that. It was wrong." Four years after losing the closest governor's race in Florida history, the younger son of former President George Bush has what looks like a commanding lead over his Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay, in part because he is not making the same mistakes twice.