Recent News

Five ‘Lanes’ in GOP Nomination Contest?

Phillip Bump has an intriguing analysis of the 2016 GOP nomination battle over at the Washington Post, arguing there are basically five ‘lanes’ in the contest that the different candidates are competing in. Huckabee and Santorum, for example, are seen as the two candidates expected to challenge each other for dominance in the ‘Evangelical’ lane (although others will certainly try to grab some of that vote as well).

The 2016 GOP presidential race, broken down into 5 ‘lanes’

Ted Cruz, we argued ... Read More >>

Jeb’s South Carolina firewall fails to take shape

Twice before, South Carolina has delivered for the Bush family. In 1988, it famously served as George H.W. Bush’s firewall after he finished third in Iowa. Twelve years later, it served the same role for George W. Bush after John McCain’s New Hampshire victory.

But as Jeb Bush seeks to become the third in his family to win here, he’s finding the state almost unrecognizable. The electorate in the first primary state in the South is more conservative than before — and the former Florida governor is perceived as a moderate. Much of the old Bush team has defected to other candidates. And the presence of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is eating into Bush’s natural base of support.

John Kasich’s first presidential bid fell victim to the Bush family more than a decade ago.

On the eve of his first political appearance in New Hampshire since then, Ohio’s scrappy Republican governor knows history could repeat itself should he challenge former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the GOP’s crowded 2016 field.

“Jeb’s a very formidable political person,” Kasich told The Associated Press before his visit. Will Kasich run anyway? “All options are on the table,” he said. “I am the governor of Ohio, and, you know, nobody gets to the White House until they go through Ohio.”

Can Jeb Bush fire up the base like he’s fired up the establishment?

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Jeb Bush’s nascent presidential campaign has already won over many of the big-dollar donors and GOP elites. What he needs to prove now is that he can win over the crowds.

Until visits to South Carolina and other early states this month, the former Florida governor hadn’t been on the campaign trail for himself in 13 years. He hadn’t sold himself to the deeply conservative, tea party-inspired crowds that have emerged as a driving Republican force in the Obama era. He’d never snapped so many “selfies” with admirers.

Jeb Bush’s tie to fugitive goes against business-savvy image he promotes

Jeb Bush was a young man building a real estate business in Miami in 1985 when health-care entrepreneur Miguel Recarey Jr. hired him to help locate office space in South Florida.

Vying for Haley’s support

Two of the early front-runners for the Republican presidential nomination, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, are visiting the Palmetto State this week. Both of them plan to call upon the governor, who won reelection last year.

In New Hampshire, Bush Finds a Familiar State for His Family

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — When former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush lays the groundwork for an all-but-certain White House bid in the state hosting the nation’s first presidential primary, he will be confronting a mixed record of voting for members of his family.