Defending Common Core and immigration reform, former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., opened the door to following his fathers and brothers footsteps and running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
Bush spoke at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library over the weekend and parts of his talk were broadcast on Fox News. During his remarks, Bush said he would make a decision by the end of the year, though he said he was not looking forward to entering the vortex of the mud fight."
In recent weeks, the national media have reported that the Republican establishment is increasingly urging Bush to enter the presidential contest, especially with Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., hobbled by his administrations role in increasing traffic around the George Washington Bridge as a form of political payback.
Bush said his decision would rest on his estimate if he can do well and run with a hopeful, optimistic message and on family considerations. However. Bush offered a warning about nominating an ideologically driven candidate. We need to elect candidates that have a vision that is bigger and broader and candidates that are organized around winning the election, not making a point, Bush said. Winning the election should be what were about. Winning allows the big things to get solved. Winning gets the country back on track in my mind.
Even as conservatives increasingly oppose immigration reform and Common Core, Bush showed no signs of retreating from his support of both issues. Bush had warm words for the Gang of Eights immigration reform which passed the U.S. Senate but is stalled in the U.S. House. Bush also called for understanding the plight of most immigrants who illegally enter the country.
Because they couldnt come legally, they come to our country because their families -- the dad who loved their children -- was worried that their children didnt have food on the table," Bush said. "And they wanted to make sure their family was intact and they crossed the border because they had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family. Yes, they broke the law but its not a felony. Its an act of love. Its an act of commitment to your family. I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime; that there should be a price paid, but it shouldnt rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families."
Bush, who has focused on education since leaving Tallahassee, also stuck to his guns on Common Core standards which conservatives have heavily criticized for expanding the federal role on education.
I just dont seem compelled to run for cover when I think this is the right thing to do for our country, Bush said. Others have, others that supported the standards all of a sudden now are opposed to it. I dont get it. High standards matter, and I hope that people rejoin in the effort to try to persuade people that this is the right thing to do."
Also this weekend, Bush teamed up with another potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate to help showcase a new Republican super-PAC led by veteran Republican strategist Alex Castellanos. Bush and Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., are in the new ad for New Republican which supports school choice, energy exploration, the free-market economy and immigration reform while opposing President Barack Obamas federal health-care law. The ad appeared on Sunday morning during the national political talk shows.
If you believe that every parent ought to be able to choose their childs school and that the economy should be driven from the bottom up, not the top down from Washington, then youre thinking like a New Republican, Bush says in the ad
If you dont think the Republican Party should be the party of big government, big business or big anything, youre thinking like a New Republican, Jindal says in the ad.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
