Funny....

In Puerto Rico, Jeb Bush Says He Lives ‘the Immigrant Experience’

By Jeremy Peters

Jeb Bush visited Puerto Rico on Tuesday and spoke in personal terms about “the power of the immigrant experience” as he challenged his party to be more respectful of Latino communities if it ever hopes to win back their votes.

Latinos who are disillusioned with President Obama are willing to listen to Republicans like himself, Mr. Bush said at a campaign appearance at the Universidad Metropolitana. “But the fact is,” he added, “we’ve got to give that message, and we haven’t campaigned in communities to show respect and to listen.”

“This is not crazy talk,” Mr. Bush, the former Florida governor, went on. “This is just human nature. If you show respect for people and you have a message that gives them some hope that life can be better, they’re more open to voting for you.”

Speaking in both Spanish and English during a question-and-answer session at the university, Mr. Bush drew on his own story. “Trust me,” he said. “I know the power of the immigrant experience because I live it each and every day. I know the immigrant experience because I married a beautiful girl from Mexico. My children are bicultural and bilingual.”

Mr. Bush is not a stranger to the island, as he reminded the crowd at the university, which included a few students but seemed mainly to be made up of supporters of the former governor, Luis Fortuño, a Republican.

When Mr. Bush’s father, George Bush, ran for president in 1980, he sent Jeb to Puerto Rico to help organize for the island’s primary. (Though Puerto Rico has no votes in the Electoral College, it does send delegates to both parties’ national conventions.)

Jeb Bush recalled that experience fondly. “I learned how to organize intensely here, I learned the passion,” he said, adding: “I learned how to drink a lot of Puerto Rican rum. I had a blast.”