Jeb Bush refers student to Democrats for lessons on the Electoral College

I know this flap is just the result of a silly clerical error, but I found it amusing and thought I’d share.

As Al Kamen wrote in today’s Washington Post, a high-school student near Pittsburgh was writing a paper for an American history class about the Electoral College. He wrote to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for “information or opinions that you have on this subject.”

About a month later, Bush wrote back.

“I enjoy reading letters from students who live all over our great country,” the letter, signed by Bush, said. “To help you with your research paper on the Electoral College, I have forwarded you [sic] letter to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in Washington, D.C. The DNC will have all the information you need on The Electoral College, how it works, and examples.”

That’s not a typo. Jeb’s letter actually referred the student to the Democratic National Committee, not the Republicans, for information about the Electoral College. In light of Bush’s role in the 2000 election, and the significance Florida played in the fiasco, one might think the governor wouldn’t need to send students to the Democrats for information like this.

This mistake, of course, was later described as “an error” and one of those things that “mystify logic” by a Bush spokesperson.

But my friends at the DNC weren’t surprised to learn of the mistake.

“We understand why Governor Bush wasn’t able to answer the student’s question,” DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe said. “When you’ve got the Supreme Court, you don’t have to understand the Electoral College.”