It might be a little early for some Americans to think about the 2016 White House race, but the conversation is clearly beginning to heat up — with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at the center.
Now that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s “Bridgegate” scandal puts him on the ropes, a few key players are looking to Bush as the key figure on the horizon.
“A lot of people think [Jeb’s] not serious [about 2016],” said John King in the newly re-launched CNN Sunday talker Inside Politics, “that he just likes the spotlight …”
“But … I spoke to several Republican fundraisers this past week, who got phone calls from Jeb Bush,” King added, “who hasn’t said he’s going to run, but is starting to ask some serious questions. So people think that at least he’s giving it a very serious look.”
“It’s a wide-open race,” said guest Jonathan Martin of the New York Times. “Some would have said Chris Christie last year. That’s certainly now not the case. I think as wide open on the GOP side for probably the last four years, maybe more than that.”
“He has reached out to several California and Texas fundraiser types,” a top GOP operative said about the Jeb phone calls. “[Jeb backers want] to keep him in the flow and to check Marco as he rebuilds.”
Nobody will go on the record to provide a definitive. In fact, the sources told King it was far from certain. But conversations are viewed as the beginning of a serious discussion on a possible 2016 run.
