Jeb Bush and Pot: Appealing to the Wrong Crowd?

During the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, Senator Rand Paul made a statement to call out fellow candidate Jeb Bush. Paul has been documented saying that Bush has a hypocrisy that young voters will not be fond of. He knows that Bush is not pushing for legalization of marijuana and, in Paul's eyes, is content with putting users of marijuana in jail. He also knows, however, that Bush attended a prestigious school filled with predominantly wealthy white students and that with this crowd, Bush drank alcohol and smoked marijuana. Bush has admitted this before but never on a stage with all of America watching, until the moment Rand Paul was asked who, specifically, he was referring to with this hypocrisy.

"Forty years ago, I smoked marijuana and I admit it," Bush said. "I'm sure that other people might have done it and may not want to say it in front of 25 million people. My mom's not happy that I just did." The last sentence was received well by the crowd, with laughter and applause. Jeb Bush, trying to appear honest, employed ethos in his appearance during the conference with this line. All of America now knows that Jeb Bush smoked marijuana in school and is not afraid to admit it. But this statement that was supposed to reinforce Bush's character has escalated into something much bigger, for better or for worse.

The younger audience, the generation famous for smoking pot and owning iPhones, was easiest to persuade into liking Bush's character with this remark. Jeb Bush, knowing full well of this opportunity, posted a tweet saying "Sorry, mom" after the conference. The tweet was passed around over and over and sparked a completely new character than Jeb Bush. This new understanding candidate took on a new name that circulated around the web: Jeb Kush. A tiny confession has now become intrinsically linked to Bush's image, and the youth are eating it up. But the harder audience to win over was also taken by this risky move.

Conservative voters in the past have stood against the legalization or encouragement of smoking pot but are now faced with a crisis: can they vote for a candidate with such a laid back stance on marijuana? The answer, so it seems, is a resounding 'yes.' In a recent poll, 59% of conservative voters said that they "didn't care one way or another" about Bush smoking pot in school, and only 7% said that this made them less likely to vote for him.

 Jeb Bush's confession that he smoked weed in high school did the exact opposite of what Rand Paul expected. Instead of voters and internet users berading Bush for being willing to convict Americans for a crime he never had any comeuppance for, the public was overwhelmingly enthusiastic with welcoming this new image of Jeb Bush. A confession that could have cost Bush the election paid off, with more people siding with him by the day.