2016 Presidential Election Candidates: Republicans Encouraging Jeb Bush To Run For President
Although the presidential race is still two years away, both Republican and Democratic Parties have begun aligning their chess pieces in preparation of the 2016 battle for the White House.
The most recent move comes out of the Republican Party's behind-the-scenes campaign to get the former Florida governor Jeb Bush into the upcoming race.
According to the Washington Post, many of the party's powerful insiders and financiers have been encouraging the former president's brother into running in the race as well as talking fundraising strategy.
Many Republican leaders and the party's leading donors said the 61-year-old Bush is their best bet for president in the wake of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's George Washington Bridge traffic scandal.
Despite Bush advisers maintaining the position that the governor will not make a decision until at least the end of the year, Bush has been going around the country to establish ties with wealthy benefactors while giving speeches on income equality and foreign policy.
Thirty senior Republicans told the Post that about the majority of Mitt Romney's donors from his failed run at the presidency in 2012 are considering writing in Bush's name on their checkbooks.
Brian Ballard, who sat on Romney and John McCain's financial committees in their respectively 2012 and 2008 runs, told the Post that Bush has certainly become the favorite among the GOP to run for president.
"He's the most desired candidate out there," Ballard said. "Everybody that I know is excited about it."
According to a Post source, the billionaire casino magnate, Sheldon Adelson, met privately with Bush but also said they didn't discuss the presidential race as the conversation was "very laid back and comfortable."
One donor at a VIP dinner in Las Vegas hosted by Adelson, on Thurday said another donor told Bush he hopes he would run president, the roughly 60-guest crowd applauded.
Despite Bush being out of the political arena for roughly seven years, he is the son and brother of two former U.S. presidents. He is also fluent in Spanish and has built up a rapport with the Hispanic community, which could give him a leading edge against the leading Democratic Party's leading hopeful Hillary Clinton.