And he was a strong social conservative, most notably in the case of Terry Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman who had been unconscious for more than a decade. Jeb Bush cut taxes, slashed the ranks of state employees and attacked what he saw as overly burdensome regulations. So why do so many GOP activists think he's a moderate? Floridians think he was a conservative governor. It was a nervous month for the Florida governor.Ĥ. Supreme Court awarded the election to George W. And finally, in the very early morning hours, it was given back to Bush. Later that night, the state was given to Bush-Cheney. Within hours, the Florida call was retracted. Ultimately that night, Jeb worked the phones and began poring over detailed county-by-county vote tallies.Ĭonfusion reigned. Now those notions and rumors could harden into truths passed on from one stranger to another: Jeb had failed. The media reports had been hard to take: reports that Jeb hadn't worked hard enough for George, that he resented George's relatively greater success and was worried that a George in the White House would almost certainly mean there would never be a Jeb in the White House. The family business - politics - was now tearing at the fabric of the family itself. And some Republican governors and senators already like Bush and are holding back their endorsements in part because they aren’t sure how strong of a candidate he is with actual voters.'With tears in his eyes, Jeb apologized to his brother for letting him down. His aides have suggested that Bush will rise in the polls sharply once his campaign starts running commercials and taking other steps to illustrate he was a true conservative in Florida, not the moderate he is often portrayed to be. Now, with his fundraising strong, Bush needs to start winning both party elites and ultimately voters. Marco Rubio, has to determine if he wants to pump millions into Rubio’s campaign if that money is unlikely to defeat Bush. John Kasich, who is entering the race next month, to convince wealthy Republicans he can overcome Bush.Įven Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate who is rumored to favor Florida Sen. It’s unlikely people who have donated $25,000 or $100,000 to Bush will defect to one of his rivals.Īnd donors like to back a winner, so it will hard for Ohio Gov. Just as significantly, by signing up those 500 big-donors, people like New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, Bush is denying other candidates the ability to match his fundraising.

More than 500 people donated more than $25,000 to Bush, an indication of deep support from some very wealthy individuals who likely don’t live in Iowa or New Hampshire. (Bush’s PAC, to be sure, was targeting big contributions, not trying to get a large number of individual contributors like Sanders’ official campaign.) Compare that to longshot Democratic candidate and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who cited 250,000 individual donors. Right to Rise said that more than 9,900 people donated. The Republican donor class is largely composed of people who either support gay marriage or don’t want the party to talk about the issue, while many conservative activists in states like Iowa remain passionately opposed to same-sex unions.Īnd because super PACs can accept unlimited donations, it’s not totally clear how broad of a group of people gave Bush money. And Republican donors, particularly in New York City, California and Washington, D.C., tend to be more moderate conservatives like Bush. Bush, unlike other candidates, attended fundraisers almost daily in the first three months of the year. Many of the fundraisers who supported his father and brother joined Jeb Bush’s campaign, with some citing that history and loyalty as the reason. In this race, Jeb Bush’s winning of the early fundraising contest was expected.

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