Jeb Bush: Will his official White House bid boost a lackluster campaign?
On Monday, Jeb Bush is scheduled to officially launch his 2016 presidential campaign. 'To be successful I鈥檓 going to have to show my heart and tell my story,' he says.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush at the Warsaw Uprising Museum in Poland, June 11, 2015. Bush is expected to announce his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential fight Monday.
Kacper Pempel/REUTERS
On the eve of his official launch into the 2016 presidential race, Jeb Bush has one thing going for him: money. The former Florida governor has raised something 鈥� far more than his Republican rivals, declared or pondering. He鈥檚 also ahead of the pack in
Aside from that, most political analysis puts his position as not nearly as strong as it might be given his experience, mainstream GOP support, and name recognition.
鈥淥ther than raising the money, little has gone as he had hoped,鈥� Jonathan Martin and Patrick Healy over the weekend. 鈥淗e has been torn between defending and distancing himself from聽George W. Bush, been unable to assuage party activists uneasy with his immigration and education views, and run into a wall of opposition on the right,鈥�
Or as the AP鈥檚 Steve Peoples and Julie Bykowicz : 鈥淗e has failed to scare any potential rival from the race, except perhaps 2012 nominee Mitt Romney. He is unpopular among some of his party's most passionate voters and little known beyond his home state despite the Bush name.鈥�
Like Hillary Clinton, Bush is a well-known member of a well-known political family who now feels the need to reintroduce himself to the American voting public.
In one ahead of Monday鈥檚 announcement, Bush strikes a 鈥渃ompassionate conservative鈥� theme, sounding more like Mrs. Clinton than 鈥� say 鈥� Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, or Marco Rubio. Floridians tell about how, as governor, he helped them with deep, personal issues 鈥� domestic violence, employment, developmental disability, education.
"The barriers right now on people rising up is the great challenge of our time," Bush says in the video. "So many people could do so much better if we fixed a few things. My core beliefs start with the premise that the most vulnerable in our society should be in the front of the line, not the back. And as governor, I had a chance to act on that core belief."
The extent to which the family name is a help or a hindrance is not totally clear.
鈥淢y life story is different,鈥� he Sunday. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have to disassociate myself from my family, I love them, but I know that for me to be successful I鈥檓 going to have to show my heart and tell my story.鈥�
It鈥檚 probably not significant that his campaign logo is a simple 鈥淛eb!鈥� Nobody is likely to forget that he鈥檚 the son and brother of former presidents.
As Martin and Healy write, 鈥淢r. Bush still faces fundamental challenges in appealing to a Republican primary electorate that is much different from the one his father or even his brother faced 鈥� a party no longer willing to automatically anoint the pragmatic, well-financed, establishment-aligned candidate that the Bush name personifies.鈥�
The Washington Post obtained the Bush aides are circulating among surrogates likely to speak on the candidate鈥檚 behalf.
Among the talking points: 鈥渃reate 19 million new jobs鈥�. disrupt the broken Washington culture that has been good for lobbyists in D.C. but left the rest of America behind鈥�. Our enemies no longer fear us, and our friends no longer trust us. It鈥檚 time we re-engage and stand with our allies.鈥�
Bush is scheduled to officially launch his presidential bid Monday afternoon at Miami Dade College.
Later this week, according to the talking points memo, 鈥淗e will travel to New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina following the speech and then Nevada the following week.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e been thinking about what I鈥檓 going to say, for sure, and prior to this trip," he told reporters the other day during a trip to Germany, Poland, and Estonia. "I聽hope that the message will be a hopeful, optimistic one. It won't dwell too much on the past. I聽will talk about why it is important to change directions. I聽will talk a little bit about, hopefully, the leadership skills that are necessary to solve problems."
"I had the opportunity as governor of a state where a lot of things happened. Some people liked them.聽Some people didn鈥檛. But there鈥檚 no question, you ask friend and foe alike, that Florida was changed by my leadership, and I聽think it changed for the better," Bush said. "And so I鈥檒l talk about that. And there will be some lines of good humor as well, I聽hope."