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And Bush comes into the race with lots of conservative opposition in his own party, including tea party-movement members who see him as too moderate on a number of issues like Common Core and immigration. “We’ve said it before and we say it again: Jeb Bush is unelectable,” said Brent Bozell, chairman of the conservative ForAmerica group. “He cannot run on his record. Jeb Bush has moved way to the left since he left office a decade ago, on some of the most important issues facing conservatives. In fact, he's championed nothing for conservatives since leaving office.”
But for all his name recognition, Bush isn't entering the race as a clear front-runner. A national CNN/ORC Poll released earlier this month found him virtually tied at the top of the field with Sen. Marco Rubio, a fellow Floridian. Behind them, 10% of those polled said they planned to support Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
When matched against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Bush trails 51% to 43%.
Bush has suffered a few stumbles in the months leading up to Monday's announcement, most notably when he struggled to answer questions about his brother's invasion of Iraq, a line of questioning many Republicans said he should have anticipated. And he's gone out of his way to avoid declaring himself a presidential contender -- until now -- so he could keep raising money for the Right to Rise super PAC backing his candidacy.
With his brother's presidency still deeply polarizing in the mind of the electorate, and foreign policy once again rising as a top public concern, his campaign will test the nation's appetite for another Republican named Bush. The late-May CNN/ORC Poll found that 56% of respondents said his connection to two former presidents would make them less likely to support his campaign.
Jeb! on Snapchat! But long before his supporters file into the campus’s Theodore R. Gibson Health Center, Snapchat-dedicated staff will be taking photos and videos of the stage preparation, food trucks and soundtrack, which they’ll quickly curate, and then send to a public feed on the app.
12:11 PM PT: lots of former Florida GOP hacks being introduced;
12:33 PM PT: Jeb campaign video running
12:35 PM PT: running 4 minutes behind
12:45 PM PT: running 15 minutes behind
12:57 PM PT: running 30 minutes behind
1:02 PM PT: video intro and finally Jeb!
1:11 PM PT: "everyone has the right to rise" as Jeb! tries to track to the middle with the usual GOP talking points more like everyone should want the Rightwing to Rise as though making America "like Florida" - promises 4% growth and 19 million new jobs in America (however contrary to history and analysis), talking about the last "ten years" ignoring of course his Brother's complicity in destroying the US economy.
1:17 PM PT: Invoking Baltimore as a meme for urban violence but framing it as educational failure and promoting charter schools
1:21 PM PT: the GOP is going to promise a lot of "first in line" positioning for immigrants among others; First anti-Hillary comment on religious freedoms "little sisters of the poor" example;
1:26 PM PT: military buildup, Cuba, Israel, Babs, probably a 30 minute speech limit