Millard Grimes: A candidate comes tailgating

One of the 14 candidates for the Republican presidential nomination quietly slipped into Athens last Saturday and tailgated with a group of Young Republicans before the Georgia-South Carolina football game. With a crowd of 93,000-plus gathering a few blocks away at Sanford Stadium, it was surprising that the candidate came and went so unobtrusively. The reporter sent to interview him from the Athens Banner-Herald professed to never finding him. The nationwide CBS telecast had nary a picture or a word about his visit, and this was not just any candidate. It was Jeb Bush, son of one president, brother of another, and finally moving into view in the polls.

The tailgate party was on Herty Field, where Georgia teams played their first football games in the early 1900s, and site for many years of the University Infirmary. Fortunately, a photographer for the Banner-Herald did locate Bush and produced two great photos of him talking with several students during the tailgate party. Less fortunately, none of the people around him were identified, although they were clearly identifiable.

The Banner-Herald's front page photo and another on a sports page showed a smiling and accessible Jeb Bush that made him appear more likable than his TV appearances or other photos of him I've seen. His staff needs to get copies of the Banner-Herald photos for future publicity.

There were also pictures in the Flagpole, an Athens weekly, and on its website, and other pictures were circulated on social media such as Facebook, but there was no noticeable coverage in major news outlets, although the Associated Press and the Atlanta newspapers had several photographers and reporters on hand to cover the game.

Whatever, it was a nice touch for Bush and I assume he didn't stay for the game. HIs only quote about it in the Banner-Herald was that he didn't have a favorite in the game. After all, he was the governor of Florida and has lived there for many years, so he might have felt some sympathy for Steve Spurrier, the old ball coach, who beat Georgia 15 games to 1 while coaching at Florida.

Little events like that are what I love about presidential election years that are like good adventure movies, with many characters and plot lines and a gripping climax on election night.

Republicans should not expect any nomination surprises, however; that's just not their tradition. In the past 100 years, there has been only one real surprise Republican presidential candidate. That was Wendell Wilkie in 1940. He had never held elective office and reportedly voted for Democrat Franklin Roosevelt four years earlier in 1936. Wilkie caught lightning in a bottle at the 1940 convention and emerged as a decidedly dark horse nominee. He lost to Roosevelt, running for an unprecedented third term, but the margin was less than in Roosevelt's two previous elections.

There are plenty of dark horses this year, but don't bet on them. Donald Trump has been entertaining, but his show has about run its course. If his poll numbers drop and he loses an early primary, the bubble will burst, despite the money he says he's prepared to spend. As the gambler sings, "Don't count your money while you're sitting at the table, there'll be time enough for counting when the dealing's done." Trump will likely start counting before the dealing's done and won't like the totals.

Based on the last debate, the rest of the field seems to want nothing so much as to get the U.S. into another war, preferably in the Middle East, which is a rerun we don't want to see.

Carly Fiorina had the worst quote in the second debate, but hasn't been called on it. She said her first call as president would be to her good friend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, to check with him on U.S. foreign policy and her second call would be to the Iranian prime minister, canceling the agreements in the Vienna Accords. She didn't say if she would be checking with Netanyahu on all her foreign policy decisions, but the implication was ominous. She should have been asked.

Her statement was much more disturbing than Dr. Ben Carson's admission that he wouldn't support a Muslim for president. First, the question is irrelevant, as no Muslim is running for president and one is not likely to. None of the candidates would support a Muslim, although Trump has commented there's still some question as to whether a Muslim has already run, presumably referring to the current president.

As the actual election draws closer, the Republican field will thin out, as it did four years ago, leaving the early and presumed favorite, Mitt Romney, as the candidate.

This year, based on past Republican performance, the most likely survivor will be the guy who was tailgating on Herty Field in Athens last Saturday. His photo in the Banner-Herald shows a candidate who looks comfortable in his skin and in his position. What's puzzling is why he was so hard to locate in such an inviting situation. More than 90,000 people from South Carolina and Georgia, and I'd guess the clear majority are Republicans, if not Bush supporters.

The fever for unusual candidates will soon break, which will be reassuring to the markets, the electorate and to other nations which depend on the United States for stable leadership, with peace the primary concern.

The Republican field seems most eager to brandish our strength, but we are too strong to have to do that. We need to offer assurance to suspected foes and friends that the U.S. is responsible as well as powerful.

Millard Grimes, editor of the Columbus Enquirer from 1961-69 and founder of the Phenix Citizen. is author of "The Last Linotype: The Story of Georgia and Its Newspapers Since World War II."

This story was originally published September 28, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Millard Grimes: A candidate comes tailgating ."