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The Bush Women Are Worried About 2016

by Lauren Holter

Along with much of America, the women of the Bush family are deeply worried about the presidential election. Beyond the political dynasty's disappointment that their latest presidential contender dropped out of the race, Laura, Barbara Jr., and Jenna hinted that they aren't pleased with the Republican candidates left standing during a panel at last week's annual Women in the World summit in New York. After a lifetime in the public eye, the mother and daughters knew better than to name names, but they still made their feelings clear.

Former First Lady Laura has been devoted to women's rights in Afghanistan since the Sept. 11 attacks, and wants a president who is also concerned about gender equality in the nation. "I want our next president – whoever he or she might be – to be somebody who is interested in women in Afghanistan and who will continue U.S. policies that are important for their success," she said during Thursday's panel. "That's who I want ... the kind of people that will do that and will pay attention to our history, and know what's happened before and know specifically how we can continue to do the good things that we do around the world."

Some interpreted this as a sign that the Republican wants Hillary Clinton to occupy the White House in 2017, considering her deliberate use of "she" and Clinton's decades-long fight for women's rights domestically and internationally.

Jemal Countess/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Even if she wasn't necessarily endorsing Clinton, Bush clearly has a problem with Donald Trump's isolationist foreign policy toward the Middle East and Ted Cruz's lack of commitment to helping women in Afghanistan. In fact, Cruz thinks that America's only goal in Afghanistan should be to "hunt down and kill jihadists who would murder us."

Jenna isn't happy with the way current campaigns are being run either, and is worried for very personal reasons. After reassuring her mom that she wouldn't say anything too bad, Jenna told the Women in the World audience: "Watching this campaign is really hard because I'm watching it while... I have a six-month-old baby at home, and I worry about her future, because you want smart, capable people to run, but when it turns into this ..." She seems to imply that no one in the race (or perhaps just on the Republican side) is smart or capable. As part of an old establishment GOP family, the outsider candidates don't particularly appeal to the Bush daughter.

Despite their discontent with today's political landscape, none of the Bush women want to run for office themselves. Laura said she's too old, joking that she missed her calling, while her twin daughters both said they have no interest in being politicians.

Images: Women in the World/YouTube