Right, but the situation was very different prior to and during the primaries. Only once he became the nominee and (especially) president did Republican's star

Right, but the situation was very different prior to and during the primaries. Only once he became the nominee and (especially) president did Republican's start to come round. As, I'm sure, most of the Democrat's asking Oprah not to run would do so if she won the nomination. My point is, if popularity 2+ years before the election was any guide, then we would probably be talking about how weird it is to have a third President Bush right now (I still remember headlines from 2016 about "Bush surges to 2016 GOP frontrunner"). A year later and Jeb was an embarrassing fizzle.