Free Republic

Jeb Bush’s fundraising operation is about to get serious. Allies of the former Florida governor are planning to roll out both a leadership PAC and a super PAC in the coming days in an effort to lock up major donors and give pause to potential rivals for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, according to several sources.

Jeb Bush, a likely Republican presidential candidate, called for "respect" of same-sex marriages on Monday as his home state of Florida began allowing gays to wed following a court ruling. Bush, a former governor of Florida, said in a statement that even those like him who oppose same-sex marriage must "respect the rule of law" now that the state's ban on gay marriages has been ruled unconstitutional. By acknowledging legalized gay marriage in Florida -- though stopping short of outright supporting it -- Bush has struck a more conciliatory tone than many of the other Republicans eyeing presidential runs in...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Rick Santorum says he's in for 2016. Rick Santorum has invited former aides to Washington next week for a "private briefing" on his plans for a possible 2016 presidential bid. The "Personal Invitation from Senator Santorum," provided to CNN by a Republican who received it, was sent by a Santorum aide to more than two dozen "friends and former colleagues" from past campaigns and his time in the U.S. House and Senate. "As you probably know, RJS is seriously considering a run for the White House in 2016," Santorum adviser Matt Beynon wrote in the email, using Santorum's initials. "With...

Aaron is much more conciliatory toward, and much less overtly terrified at the thought of a Mike Huckabee Presidential campaign. I do not share his remarkable confidence that our esteemed electorate will not happily embrace the guitar-toting Southern progressive with what is left of their hearts and minds after a long and arduous primary season. People, let's be real. Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum for that matter, aren't really Republicans. I mean, as a RINO heathen, I can obviously spot another of my species, and these two are it, though, while I'm teetering on the edge of full social anarchy,...

The first contest of the 2016 presidential race is only (!) a year away, and like most Americans, I’ve been following the start of what promises to be a verrrry long political season with a mixture of anticipation and dread.. Our process is just so exhausting. In addition to actually doing our civic duty--informing ourselves about the issues and the candidates--we have to expend a ridiculous amount of time evaluating each and every gaffe and controversy, deciding whether a) it's real or ginned up; b) whether we have the energy to take our outrage to the next level; and c)...

Last month, Jeb Bush announced that he would actively explore a run for president in 2016, and it’s never too early to start lining up the dollars: 2016 “exploration” has kicked off: The Republican will raise money for his newly-created leadership PAC at a reception Wednesday in the hometown of his father, former President George H.W. Bush. Proof that not all of Greenwich winters in Florida, a popular tax-Haven for Connecticut residents, Bush will be hosted by an assemblage of relatives and political allies with ties to his father and brother. The excitement among conservatives is not palpable.

From the first day of 2011, Mitt Romney was the favorite to win the 2012 Republican presidential primary campaign. No one else was even close. The 2016 outlook could not be more different. Offered the choice to bet on one single candidate to win the nomination versus the rest of the field, the choice would have to be "the field." For the first time in years, there is no one next in line. And without a former vice president or powerhouse former candidate looking likely to run, Republicans are shaping up to spend the next year and a half fighting...

Exclusive: Tom Tancredo warns of scenario in which conservatives split their votes. Jeb Bush leads all other Republicans in early polls for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Without question, Bush is the anointed front-runner, and without question, the Republican establishment is ecstatic. The Republican Party should be happy about the prospect of Jeb Bush as its 2016 presidential candidate only if it has a death wish. Bush 41and Bush 43 dug a hole the party could not climb out of, so Bush 45 aims to fill it with the broken promises of the Republican platform: The Party of Lincoln, RIP....

George P. Bush took office as state land commissioner in a low-key ceremony at the Texas Capitol on Friday. - I don't yet know a whole lot about George P. Bush, but he seems (far) more electable than his father. Jeb should stand aside, and let his son take the lead.

When it comes to Common Core, Jeb Bush thumbs his nose at our Constitution and is an advocate of Common Core which subtly, and in violation of our Constitution, is designed to have our federal government seize control over public school systems established under state constitutions. The control is acquired by dolling out federal revenue to the states for a function not authorized by our Constitution with strings attached to accomplish the whims and fancies of political appointees assigned to the despotic Federal Department of Education, which ought to be closed down, not enlarged! An example of how federal control...

Happy new year! Welcome to the start of the presidential campaign marathon. For your consideration are five likely candidates, each representing a distinct segment of the U.S. political spectrum. Republicans have three probable candidates. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush would represent the business conservative wing of the GOP -- Pew Research estimates this is 12 percent of likely voters. Bush would be the favorite of the big GOP spenders, the one percent that favors capitalism over democracy. Jeb's strengths are national name recognition, personable manner, Hispanic spouse, and reputation for moderation on social issues. His weaknesses: high unfavorability ratings and...

SALT LAKE CITY — Mitt Romney is eyeing a third run for the White House and will get in the race in the coming months if he doesn't like how the GOP field is looking, his longtime friend Kem Gardner said Monday. "I know exactly what Mitt's going to do," Gardner, a real estate developer who helped bring Romney to Utah to lead the 2002 Winter Olympics, told KSL News. "I think over the next few months, a lot of things will happen." But Spencer Zwick, who raised $1 billion for Romney's 2012 campaign, said the decision is a personal...

The TEA Party divided the GOP for six years. It was destructive and a failure to negotiate much needed legislation throughout the 112th and 113th Congress. TEA Party goals are destructive rather than constructive. Congress’ poor favorability rating can be attributed directly to the party within a party which is supported by the most wealthy Americans such as the Koch brothers. In 2008 the TEA Party was making plans for a presidential bid in 2016; they will fail. Although politicians may be extremists, the majority of Americans are more centrist. The TEA Party made a splash in 2008 and again...

WASHINGTON — One outcome of and proof for ideological polarization is the way it has made stalwarts appear like centrists. In what world is Hillary Clinton — feminist heroine, author of Hillarycare, sworn enemy of the vast right-wing conspiracy — not progressive enough? In what parallel universe is Jeb Bush — a tax-slashing, school-voucher-supporting, pro-gun former Southern governor — some kind of moderate? George Wallace, who managed to be foolish on an amazing variety of topics, claimed there wasn’t “a dime’s worth of difference” between the Democratic and Republican parties. It wasn’t really true in 1968. It is dramatically less...

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush has declined an invitation to speak at an Iowa gathering hosted by an immigration hard-liner. Bush’s decision to bypass the Iowa Freedom Summit, slated for Jan. 24, was confirmed by his office and by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), the event’s organizer, who has sparked controversy for his comments about illegal immigrants. A Bush aide said he appreciated the invitation but would be unable to make it. King, in an interview, said Bush responded to the invitation through an adviser. He also said he has not yet spoken with Bush, who announced earlier this month that...

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who has pushed comprehensive amnesty legislation as a “Gang of Eight” member, is trying to advance the notion that a Republican cannot win the White House without supporting comprehensive amnesty legislation. He even suggested that pro-amnesty 2016 Republican presidential candidates former Florida Governor like Jeb Bush ignore voters in Iowa (home of conservative stalwart Rep. Steve King) and entirely skip the first-in-the-nation nominating caucuses to avoid having his pro-amnesty views scrutinized. In an interview with the Daily Beast, Flake reportedly called Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status on the presidential primary calendar “one of the very unfortunate parts of...

It’s happening again … and there doesn’t appear to be anything anyone can do to stop it. We’re referring, of course, to the quadrennial election of an American president – which has followed an eerily predictable pattern in 2008 and 2012. It’s gone like this: An “electable” status quo candidate with support from the left-leaning media and the “Republican” establishment gets swept to the GOP nomination – via Borg-like assimilation. At that point, the media shifts its narrative on a dime and begins perpetuating marginal distinctions between two eerily similar ideologues – hoping to portray the big government “Republican” nominee...

Before Jeb Bush announced he was “actively exploring” a presidential bid came news he was just as actively seeking a way to avoid appealing to conservatives. (The Bushies prefer the word “pandering.”) The would-be King Bush III consulted one of the country’s foremost experts on excelling in the Republican Party without being too conservative: Arizona Sen. John McCain. “I just said to him, ‘I think if you look back, despite the far right’s complaints, it is the centrist that wins the nomination,’” McCain told Bush, according to The New York Times. It’s definitely true that the establishment candidate usually wins...

The smoldering embers from Ferguson. It sparkles in the hatred of Wall Street. The distance between rich and poor, between power and powerless are increasing. The insurgency impose themselves.An American campaign between Goliath and Goliath are more likely than ever. Just before Christmas announced Jeb Bush namely that he prepares the ground for a presidential campaign. He thus became the first Republican who took an official step toward candidacy, and flew straight to the top of the polls. This means that currently there is a Bush and Clinton as head race against the White House. Massively machinery Behind Hillary and...

First it was the Boston Globe. Then came the New York Times. Then Politico and Bloomberg – and now CNN. The Jurassic media is on the march, and their goal is to help the Republicans nominate Jeb Bush in 2016. In order to achieve this goal, they have started to soften the battlefield of ideas with their stockpile of shallow psychological tactics. This is just the same old psy-ops the left always tries. And why not? It almost always works on the Republican establishment in Washington. Inside the GOP-e in DC, reality does not matter -- only polls and media...