After the completion of a six month exploratory phase which consisted of endless fund raising on behalf of his Right to Rise PAC, Jeb Bush will formally declare his 2016 candidacy at an event today in Florida. The announcement will come Monday afternoon during an appearance at Miami Dade College.
Report from CNN:
Jeb Bush, a scion of the most recognizable family in Republican politics who fashioned an image as a sober-minded conservative truth-teller while governor of Florida, is poised to run for president.
Bush will make his formal announcement Monday afternoon here in his adopted hometown during an appearance at Miami Dade College. His candidacy comes after a weeklong European tour and months of intensive behind-the-scenes political maneuvering that erased long-standing doubts about his White House ambitions.
The launch will set John Ellis Bush, 62, the second son of former President George H.W. Bush and younger brother of former President George W. Bush, on a potentially historic course that would confirm his family’s standing as America’s pre-eminent political dynasty, rivaled only by the Kennedys in their fame and cross-generational power.
If his campaign is victorious, the Bush clan will become the only American family to have elected three of their own to the highest office in the land.
In a preview of his campaign theme, Bush put out a web ad outlining some of his views and the tone he hopes to set in the coming months:
The ad features a lot of material likely aimed at the general electorate as opposed to Republican primary voters. This is his attempt to look past the primaries and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more like this in the coming months. His goal is to assure the establishment donors that he will not repeat the Romney mistakes and can, in fact, carry the “electability” mantle all the way to the White House.
Here is the full video of Jeb’s announcement speech:
