George W Bush raises money for Republicans, but not key Senate

George W. Bush can write a check to Senate Republicans, but he can’t bring himself to stand next to Ken Paxton. That tells you everything about where the old guard’s head is at. Paxton beat Bush’s nephew in the 2022 Texas primary, and apparently that wound hasn’t healed. So Bush will raise money for the team, just not for the guy who actually fought the primary voters and won.

It’s a petty feud, and it’s also a glimpse of the establishment’s real priority: their own social circle, not the broader fight. Senate Republicans need every dollar and every ally they can get, especially in a state as big as Texas. But Bush would rather nurse a family grudge than help a conservative who did exactly what primaries are for. The old guard still can’t let it go. They’ll take your donation, but they’ll hold the door shut for you personally.

Paxton has been a lightning rod, sure. He’s also one of the few statewide officials in Texas who actually uses his office to fight the Biden administration on the border and on federal overreach. That’s what Republican voters in Texas sent him to do. Bush’s version of the party is going to golf and writing ceremonial checks. That’s not a movement, that’s a club.

The Senate GOP should be smart enough to take Bush’s money and ignore his seating chart. But the fact that he’d publicly exclude a sitting attorney general who beat his nephew in a primary says more about Bush than it does about Paxton. Republicans don’t need more family dynasties. They need people willing to win primaries and then do something with the mandate.