Jeb Bush’s staunchly conservative record as Florida governor has been overshadowed by conservative controversies surrounding his support for national education standards called Common Core and actually finding a workable solution on immigration reform (though depending on the day, he favors either legal residency or a pathway to citizenship).
But he plans to change all that real soon as he prepares to give a big speech to the Detroit Economic Club next Wednesday.
Here’s CNN with a refresher:
He cut billions in taxes, intervened in controversial abortion cases, railed against affirmative action and gun control and dreamed of a state capital in which government buildings would forever be drained of unneeded workers. …
"He was in no way a moderate," said Florida political strategist Mike Hanna, who advised Bush during his gubernatorial runs. "After Governor Bush gets out there and starts to introduce himself to the voters of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and other states, I think they will realize ... he is a card-carrying, unabashed, capitalist conservative."
That's certainly how Bush hopes party faithfuls will come to see him. But of late, he seems to have been tagged a "moderate," otherwise known as the kiss of death in the Republican Party. In fact, Tea Party activists don't much care what the heck he did when he was governor from 1999-2007.
Glenn McCall, a South Carolina RNC member, says activists in his state aren't interested in Bush's record.
"The successes he had in Florida -- they're not even thinking about that. They're looking at Common Core, the Bush name and immigration.”
Jeb Bush is going to have to scrape and claw to get back into the base's good graces. It's not going to be pretty.