Jeb Bush to ‘Actively Explore’ Run for President - Wall Street Journal

Jeb Bush will “actively explore the possibility of running for president” in 2016, according to an announcement the former Florida governor posted to his Facebook page Tuesday morning.  Mr. Bush, whose father and brother served as president, is the first Republican to formally explore a 2016 candidacy. More than a dozen others are publicly weighing whether to seek the White House.

Mr. Bush wrote that he discussed running with his family over the Thanksgiving holiday and will launch a political-action committee in January to promote his political ideals. The announcement doesn’t say that he has formed an exploratory committee to raise money to back a presidential campaign.

A two-term governor, Mr. Bush is considered a social and fiscal conservative, though he has broken with party orthodoxy on immigration and education policy—two issues that figure to be central to the GOP’s 2016 primary campaign.

Mr. Bush has been a strong backer of Common Core education standards and an immigration overhaul, which put him at odds with many Republican lawmakers and voters.

Mr. Bush has also had a low-grade feud with antitax activist Grover Norquist, whose no-tax pledge is central to party orthodoxy. Mr. Bush has refused to sign Mr. Norquist’s pledge. Mr. Norquist this month called Mr. Bush “washed up.” 

Due to his family connections—his father George H.W. Bush and brother George W. Bush were the last two GOP presidents—Mr. Bush has the capacity to raise substantial amounts of money as fast as any other Republican who would join the race. He would be viewed as a favorite of the party establishment, competing for donors and votes with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie .  Read More at WSJ

• Jeb Bush Statement: I Am Exploring Running for President