The Associated Press is reporting that the very popular former
governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, is privately steering some of his closest advisers toward the presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney, although he hasn't publicly endorsed a candidate.
governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, is privately steering some of his closest advisers toward the presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney, although he hasn't publicly endorsed a candidate.
The former Florida governor has said repeatedly he won't be a candidate in 2008 despite encouragement from his father, the former president, and his brother, the current one. But Jeb Bush's support, even tacit, would be critical in the state that decided the 2000 presidential election.
Among the Jeb Bush people on Romney's campaign payroll: Former Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings. former state party chairman Al Cardenas, and Sally Bradshaw, Bush's former campaign manager and chief of staff.
Jeb Bush's early support for Romney doesn't surprise me. I'd have expected Bush, a former governor, would gravitate toward Romney, also a former governor, rather than Romney's two main rivals for the nomination, one a Senator (John McCain) the other a former big city mayor (Rudy Giuliani). Governors tend to back governors for executive positions. If Romney falters, don't' be surprised if Bush shifts to Giuliani - who has executive-branch experience as a mayor though not as a governor.
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