Loading ...Former Gov. Jeb Bush announced Tuesday he will actively explore running for president in 2016, immediately making him the strongest contender ever from the nation’s largest state that has never had a presidential nominee from either party.
It also sets in motion a possible rematch between the two families – Bush and Clinton – that have dominated American politics for a quarter-century.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush talks to supporters in Coral Gables on Dec. 2. (AP photo)
Bush, who served as governor from 1999 to 2007, made his announcement on his Facebook page and Twitter in a holiday message.
Bush, the 61-year-old son of President George H.W. Bush and brother of President George W. Bush, said he had discussed his potential presidential bid with family members during the Thanksgiving holiday.
“As a result of these conversations and thoughtful consideration of the kind of strong leadership I think America needs, I have decided to actively explore the possibility of running for president of the United States,” Bush wrote.
It represents the strongest statement yet from Bush that he intends to run for the presidency in 2016, setting up a potential showdown with Hillary Clinton, the wife of President Bill Clinton.
Bush said he would be creating leadership PAC next month “that will help me facilitate conversations with citizens across America to discuss the most critical challenges facing our exceptional nation.”
“The PAC’s purpose will be to support leaders, ideas and policies that will expand opportunity and prosperity for all Americans,” he said.
Kristy Campbell, a spokeswoman for Bush, said he has not yet made a final decision on whether to seek the Republican Party‘s presidential nomination. She said that he will announce his decision next year “after gauging support” for a run.
“This is a natural next step and represents a new phase of his consideration process,” Campbell said.
In Florida, Bush’s candidacy would represent the strongest bid yet for a candidate from what will soon be the nation’s third-largest state to gain a presidential nomination. Former Govs. Reubin Askew and Bob Graham ran in the Democratic primaries but never gained much traction.
But a Bush presidential bid could impact another potential Florida candidate for president, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami.
“Marco has a lot of respect for Gov. Bush and believes he would be a formidable candidate,” said Alex Conant, a Rubio spokesman. “However, Marco’s decision to run for president or re-election will be based on where he can best achieve his agenda to restore the American dream – not on who else might be running.”
Although he has a formidable political pedigree, comes from the nation’s largest swing state and has access to a fund-raising network that has helped elect two prior Republican presidents, Bush’s presidential bid is not a sure thing.
Bush has angered a sizable bloc of Republicans over his staunch support for the Common Core education standards, which conservatives view as an overreach by the federal government, and his support for a more expansive immigration policy than many conservatives would like to see.
Rick Wilson, a veteran GOP operative, said Bush has a major problem with his continued support for Common Core. For conservative Republicans, who will make up the bulk of the early presidential primary voters, Wilson said Common Core “is an absolutely white-hot, radioactive poison.”
“They hate it and they’re going to hate him for being its biggest advocate and cheerleader,” Wilson said. “It is a real problem.”
On immigration, Wilson said Bush may have more flexibility since he doesn’t have a track record on federal immigration issues.
Wilson’s analysis was supported by a poll released Tuesday by Monmouth University, showing a wide-open race with more than a dozen contenders named by Republican voters, with Bush drawing mention from 6 percent of the voters compared to 8 percent for Mitt Romney and 7 percent for Chris Christie. Rubio had 2 percent in the poll.
But the poll also showed a weakness for Bush among the GOP’s most conservative voters. Republican voters gave Bush a 39-30 percent favorability rating. But Tea Party members were split 39-38 percent on Bush’s favorability, compared to non-Tea Party members who gave Bush a 39-24 percent favorability rating in the Monmouth survey.
Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth poll, said the poll showed “most GOP voters say they are at least somewhat willing to put their ideological preferences aside in order to get behind the most electable candidate.”
But Murray said that may depend on which candidate gets the nomination. ““Two of the most talked about possibilities, Chris Christie and Jeb Bush, are viewed negatively by a significant number of Tea party voters,” he said.
Democrats were already on the attack against Bush.
“Seriously? If Jeb Bush hasn’t been exploring running for president for months, what has he been doing?” asked Allison Tant, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party.”
Tant said Democrats would remind voters about Bush’s record as governor and his business dealings since he left office.
“As Florida governor, Jeb was a partisan extremist who fought to privatize public education and abused the power of government to interfere in private medical decisions in the Terri Schiavo case,” Tant said. “Since leaving office, he’s used his family name and political connections to get a job at Lehman Brothers and make millions of dollars from shady offshore investments.”
FLORIDA CANDIDATES
Florida is the largest state that has never had a major-party presidential nominee much less a president. Here is the recent track record for presidential and vice presidential candidates from Florida:
• In 2004, former governor and U.S. Sen. Gov. Bob Graham launched a presidential bid but did not gain any traction in the Democratic primaries.
• In 1984, former Gov. Reubin Askew ran briefly in the Democratic primaries.
• In 2012, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, was a contender for the vice presidential spot under Mitt Romney.
• In 2008, Gov. Charlie Crist made the short list but was not the final vice presidential choice for John McCain.
• In 2000, Graham was on the short list for the vice presidential spot under Al Gore.
• In 1996, U.S. Sen. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, was one of the final two running mates considered by Bob Dole.
• In 1968, Gov. Claude Kirk campaigned unsuccessfully to win a spot on Richard Nixon’s ticket.
• Florida’s only potential claim to a presidency would be Andrew Jackson, who briefly served as a military governor in the state in 1821 before returning to his native Tennessee, where he was elected president in 1828.
