Analysts have long noted Jeb Bush's last name may prove a liability when it comes to the Republican presidential hopeful's shots at the White House, and the former Florida governor is taking the issue head-on, the Associated Press reported.

"Do you have brothers and sisters?" he said to a questioner at a Las Vegas retirement community. "Are you exactly the same?"

The brother of George W. Bush and son of George H.W. Bush insisted each of his family members is different. Both former presidents were unpopular when they left office in 1993 and 2001, respectively.

Bush has not shied away from tough inquiries into his name or policies, but the Las Vegas event was the first time the 62-year-old took questions in an early voting state this year. The crowd applauded his remarks about his relatives.

Even though he has yet to officially declare his intention to run for president, Bush's campaign is already moving into a second – more public – phase. Until now, he had largely been focused on raising money behind closed doors, but in the coming weeks, the presumed candidate is scheduled to make appearances in the key primary and caucus states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

In Nevada, meanwhile, Bush also reiterated his relatively moderate stance on immigration: Undocumented migrants should be given a pathway to legal status if they pay fines, learn English and have jobs, he argued. The husband of a native Mexican said he wants immigrants to "come out of the shadows."

At last week's Conservative Political Action Conference, Bush stood by his support for a path to citizenship and in-state college tuition, RH Reality Check reported. But "first and foremost," we need to "enforce the borders," he insisted.

His marriage to Columba Bush, whom he met at age 17 during a high school trip to Mexico, meanwhile, is so defining that he divides his life into two periods, "Before Columba and after Columba," Bush said on Monday, according to the Washington Post. The former governor speaks fluent Spanish and has used the language to answer questions on the campaign trail.

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