Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on Jeb Bush:
Jeb Bush says he’ll ‘actively explore’ presidential run
BY JAMES L. ROSICA
Tribune/Scripps Capital Bureau
Published: December 16, 2014 | Updated: December 16, 2014 at 06:05 PM
TALLAHASSEE — Dust off the exclamation point – former Gov. Jeb Bush says he’s thinking about running for president.
In a holiday message on his Facebook page, Bush said he discussed the “future of our nation” and a potential bid for the White House with wife Columba and members of his family over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Bush, son of 41st President George H.W. Bush and brother of 43rd President George W. Bush, was Florida’s governor 1999-2007. He first crafted a personal brand with his “Jeb!” campaign signs.
The 61-year-old Republican now says he will “actively explore” a presidential campaign and form a new political operation allowing him to raise money for like-minded Republicans.
“Well, I mean, why not?” said Patrick Manteiga, a Democratic political activist and publisher of the trilingual Tampa weekly La Gaceta. “He’s been toying with it. He’s wanted to do it all his life and he’s long seemed to be preparing for it.”
Manteiga added that if, as some expect, there is a large field of Republican presidential candidates for 2016, Jeb “has to be considered the main contender.”
Brian Ballard, a Tallahassee lobbyist who was a top Florida fundraiser for the last two Republican nominees, said he expected most major donors in the state would commit to Bush.
“He freezes everyone out,” Ballard said. “Florida will be off limits to other presidential candidates should Jeb decide to run.”
Former state Rep. Sandra Murman, who served while Bush was governor, called him “a real ‘compassionate conservative.’”
“He’s a true reformer who would take to Washington all his skills as a great governor,” said Murman, a Republican who represented Tampa in the Legislature 1996-2004, rising to speaker pro tempore.
“He really cares about people, and there’s nothing like a hometown hero to come from our state,” added Murman, now chairwoman of the Hillsborough County Commission.
Cynthia Henderson, who served as Bush’s secretary of the Department of Management Services, said a Jeb Bush candidacy will generate excitement in a jaded electorate.
“The debate will be about how do we get America back up to a level of respect and admiration worldwide,” she said.
In his Facebook post, Bush wrote, “In the coming months, I hope to visit with many of you and have a conversation about restoring the promise of America.”
He also is known for helping to popularize the expression “BHAG” – big hairy audacious goal, defined as a long-term and visionary pursuit.
With Bush in the race, the discussion will “get into the real meat of what it means to run government,” said Henderson, now a Tallahassee lawyer and lobbyist.
Tony Villamil, Bush’s former director of Tourism, International Trade and Economic Development, called him a “conservative leader who respects all points of view.”
“He makes the best decision based on what’s the right thing for all, regardless of ideology,” said Villamil, now an economic consultant in Coral Gables. “That’s what he did as governor. He’s well read and well versed on the issues.”
Bush’s announcement is sure to reverberate throughout Republican politics and begin to help sort out a field that includes more than a dozen potential candidates, none of whom have formally announced plans to mount a campaign.
A Bush candidacy could affect Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who came up through Florida politics as a strong Bush supporter and is considering whether to seek re-election to the Senate or run for president in 2016.
“Marco has a lot of respect for Governor Bush, and believes he would be a formidable candidate,” Rubio spokesman Alex Conant said. “However, Marco’s decision on whether 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.”
The announcement also overshadowed comments from former New York Gov. George Pataki, who told the New York Daily News in a story published Tuesday he is “very seriously” considering his own bid.
And the move could affect the plans of several sitting Republican governors, including New Jersey’s Chris Christie and Wisconsin’s Scott Walker.
“I don’t think it will affect their willingness to run, but it will affect to some extent their ability to raise money,” said Fred Malek, the finance chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
Should he decide to run, Bush can tap into his family’s vast political network, and his campaign would attract strong support from the same donor pool that other establishment-minded Republicans need to fuel their own prospective campaigns.
The announcement also came days after Bloomberg Businessweek reported on his involvement with several private equity funds, including those with Chinese investors, calling it potentially “politically damaging.”
The article compared him to someone in a similar line of work: Failed GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The story noted that if Bush was planning to run, he’d “be winding down such businesses, rather than expanding them.”
Kristy Campbell, Bush’s spokeswoman, said he has not yet made a final decision on whether to seek the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2016. 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.
That phase will include an expansion of Bush’s political operations. He said he will start his own leadership political action committee in January, which will allow him to raise money that can pay for his travel and the infrastructure of a nascent campaign, including office space and some broad polling.
Richard Schwarm, a former Iowa state Republican Party chairman, said he expected Bush to run in the Iowa caucuses, as did his father and brother. Schwarm was among the earliest supporters of George W. Bush, and among those who went to Austin, Tex., to court the then-Texas governor in 1999.
“I think if you’re going to be a national candidate you have to go where the ballots are and not be afraid to trust your campaign to Iowa voters, New Hampshire voters, Nevada voters and South Carolina voters,” said Schwarm, who considers Bush among his top considerations for president.
Tuesday’s statement is the most definitive signal that Bush plans to try and become the third member of his family to serve as president.
In a TV interview this past weekend, he said he “would be a good president,” disclosed that he was writing an e-book about his time as governor that will come out in the spring, and promised to release about 250,000 emails from his time in office.
During his two terms as Florida governor, Bush pushed for large tax cuts, overhauled Florida’s education system and led the charge to eliminate race-based policies in college admissions and state spending.
Since leaving office, Bush has continued to advocate for more changes to the nation’s schools, including the adoption of new education standards known as Common Core.
Those standards have drawn the ire of conservatives who view them as a federal intrusion into local classrooms.
Bush has continued to call them critical to overhauling the country’s education system, while seeking common ground with opponents by saying states should be allowed to develop their own education programs.
Schwarm said while Bush holds some positions that don’t sit well with some GOP activists, such as the Common Core standards, “I think they’ll realize his honesty and integrity on speaking out on his mind shows he has the courage of his convictions.”
“Iowans will give him a serious look,” Schwarm said. “And that’s all candidates can ask for. It’s up to him to make the sale to Iowans.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.