WASHINGTON
— Jeb Bush is ready to launch a Republican presidential bid months in
the making on Monday by asserting his commitment to the "most vulnerable
in our society," an approach targeting the broader American electorate
even as he faces questions about his policies from conservatives in his
own party.
Six
months after he got the 2016 campaign started by saying he was
considering a bid, the 62-year-old former Florida governor will formally
enter the race with a speech and rally near his south Florida home at
Miami Dade University, an institution selected because it serves a large
and diverse student body that's symbolic of the nation he seeks to
lead.
"My
core beliefs start with the premise that the most vulnerable in our
society should be in the front of the line and not the back," Bush says
in a video featuring women, minorities and a disabled child to be aired
at the event before his Monday afternoon announcement speech. "What we
need is new leadership that takes conservative principles and applies
them so that people can rise up."
Bush
joins the crowded Republican campaign in some ways in a commanding
position. The brother of one president and son of another, Bush has
likely raised a recording- breaking amount of money to support his
candidacy and conceived of a new approach on how to structure his
campaign, both aimed at allowing him to make a deep run into the GOP
primaries.
But
on other measures, early public opinion polls among them, he has yet to
break out. While unquestionably one of the top-tier candidates in the
GOP race, he is also only one of several in a capable Republican field
that does not have a true front-runner.
In
the past six months, Bush has made clear he will remain committed to
his core beliefs in the campaign to come — even if his positions on
immigration and education standards are deeply unpopular among the
conservative base of the party that plays an outsized role in the GOP
primaries.
"I'm
not going to change who I am," Bush said as he wrapped up a week-long
European trip this weekend. "I respect people who may not agree with me,
but I'm not going to change my views because today someone has a view
that's different."
Bush
is one of 11 major Republicans in the hunt for the nomination.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are among those
still deciding whether to join a field that could end up just shy of 20.
But
few among them entered the race with such a high expectations of
success as did Bush. Those expectations have seemed a burden at times.
Take,
for example, the question of whether Bush will report raising $100
million for his campaign in the first six months of the year. Lost amid
the "will he or won't he" is that Bush probably will have raised more in
six months than former presidential nominee Mitt Romney raised in the
first year before the 2012 election.
Still, Bush's return to politics since leaving the governor's office in 2007 has been underwhelming at times.
His
speaking style often leaves something to be desired, particularly when
compared with some opponents. He sometimes gets snippy during long
campaign days. While detailed policy questions are often his strength,
he struggled for several days last month to answer a predictable
question about the war in Iraq waged by his brother, former President
George W. Bush.
Bush's
team acknowledges political challenges, but dismisses critics who decry
a recent staffing shift as proof of a nascent campaign already in
crisis. Just as his strengths are exaggerated, they say, so are his
weaknesses.
"Gov.
Bush recognizes, and he's going to highlight on Monday, the fact that
he needs to earn every vote — and he's going to take nothing and nobody
for granted," campaign spokesman Tim Miller said.
Indeed,
Bush's team is about to get more aggressive. In his speech Monday, Bush
plans to make the case that those involved in creating Washington's
problems can't fix them. The point is designed to jab Republican
senators — one of them his political protégé in Florida, Marco Rubio —
who are also seeking the presidential nomination.
And Bush's fundraising operation is not slowing down.
After
touring four early-voting states, Bush quickly launches a private
fundraising tour with stops in at least 11 cities before the end of the
month. Two events alone — a reception at Union Station in Washington on
Friday and a breakfast the following week on Seventh Avenue in New York —
will account for almost $2 million in new campaign cash, according to
invitations that list more than 75 donors committed to raising big
money.
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