Bush sending brother Jeb to Asia seen as savvy [View All]

TALLAHASSEE — Political experts say President Bush's decision to send his brother to grief-stricken Asia is a savvy move to stem criticism of the United States' initial response to one of the world's worst natural disasters.

It also may set the stage for Gov. Jeb Bush's own run at the White House in 2008, despite his insistence he is headed back to the business world in Miami. The governor's staff says he is perfectly suited for the mission after overseeing disaster relief in Florida following four hurricanes.

"It's not that he brings a special expertise about emergency management," Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, said Friday. "It's that he's the president's brother, and symbols are important. This is partly a public-relations operation. The president got off on the wrong foot here and got a lot of criticism."

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Lance deHaven-Smith, a Florida State University political scientist, went further.

"I take it to be a clear indication that he's interested in higher office," he said. "When you watch his denials about not running for president, he says, 'I like the job I'm doing.' You never him say, 'I'll never run for president.' It's a masterful appointment to send him overseas."

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