US: The 400 amped up Republicans booed when Jeb Bush swiped at Hillary Clinton’s “breathtaking” speech that businesses don’t build jobs. They nodded respectfully when he promised a better “This country cans leading the world. That’s what this election is about,” Bush told the crowd, sounding every bit like a man with his eye on the White House. “It’s not about the past. It’s about what the future can look like.”
But “this election” wasn’t a stop on the 2016 presidential race. It was the Colorado Senate contest and Jeb Bush’s appearance in Castle Rock in October on behalf of Cory Gardner was one of about 40 campaign events he did in 2014 for fellow Republicans running for Congress or governor. Bush, however, was also campaigning for himself though few at the time knew the extent to which he was putting the pieces in motion for a presidential bid.
On 18 months after he made the first real steps toward running for the White House, Bush drops the pretense and makes his candidacy official. His speech at Miami-Dade College follows a mammoth and meticulous effort launched in late 2013, when Bush hired a team of four longtime loyalists to help him manage his schedule and begin what they simply call the “process” of examining a potential White House bid.
