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http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-10/how-long-will-jeb-bush-hold-his-fire-on-his-republican-rivals-

Senator Marco Rubio has hired a coveted former aide to Mitt Romney to oversee his political activities in the Northeast and probably in a New Hampshire campaign, signaling that he is serious about a presidential bid. Jim Merrill, who directed both of Mr. Romney’s New Hampshire primary bids, is joining Mr. Rubio’s political action committee as a senior adviser, a position that would put him at the helm of the Florida senator’s campaign in the first-in-the-nation primary state.

Less than a year before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, it appears that every Republican contender is making a serious play to win the state, setting up what is likely to be one of the most active, competitive campaigns here in recent memory. Political observers in Iowa say that the field is wide open and that numerous candidates have a legitimate shot to win or do well enough to come out with momentum. That is partly because moderates in the Iowa Republican Party, led by Gov. Terry Branstad, have reasserted themselves into the caucus process after watching social conservatives dominate in 2008...

The early voting is in, and Wall Street loves what it sees and hears from its anointed 2016 front-runners — Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Jeb Bush (with Chris Christie as a fallback). The big-bank honchos feel they’re sitting pretty because, as one private-equity exec put it, “We’re in a no-lose situation” if the above are the real field. In fact, to the extent that Wall Street loves these three, they’re in trouble with the rest of the country.

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-08/bloomberg-politics-saint-anselm-new-hampshire-poll-jeb-bush-grabs-narrow-lead

Jeb Bush, the early establishment favorite for the Republican nomination, has suggested that he doesn’t want to have to pander to the party’s base to win the nomination. He’s probably going to need to. A Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register poll painted an abysmal picture of Mr. Bush’s standing among the party’s Iowa caucus-goers: a well-informed microcosm of the conservative wing of the party, and perhaps a leading indicator of how conservatives will react as the primary season unfolds.

Mandy Grunwald, an adviser to the Clintons for over two decades and a top strategist to Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, is expected to serve as a senior adviser for communications to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s all-but-certain presidential bid. Ms. Grunwald will advise Mrs. Clinton on strategy and make some of the television ads along with Jim Margolis, whose firm, GMMB, is expected to take the lead on producing and buying the commercials. The pollster Joel Benenson is another senior adviser poised to work for Mrs. Clinton on her second White House run.

Jeb Bush is setting the pace for press access in the 2016 campaign. And as political reporters, we love this. In the last 24 hours, Bush e-mailed a comment to a New York Times reporter for a profile of one of his top aides. He gave an interview to the National Journal. After his speech in Detroit, he also took questions from reporters and appeared quite comfortable in doing so. It is an echo of his first foray into his soon-to-be campaign, when he announced he would release a trove of e-mails from his two terms as Florida governor. (Of...

Wednesday at the Detroit Economic Club, former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) said to “create high, sustained economic growth,” we need to “dramatically expand immigrants that are coming to work.” Bush said, “It seems to me we ought to be strategic about this about how do we create high, sustained economic growth And that is to shift away from family reunification being almost the sole driver of illegal immigration to narrowing that do what every other country has, spouse and minor children. And dramatically expanding immigrants that are coming to work. A guest worker program to deal in the areas where...

After a 2012 election dominated by Mitt Romney’s car elevator and his ill-considered quips about government dependency and firing people, Republicans are bent on becoming the party of the 47 percent. Jeb Bush is just the latest GOP White House hopeful to put the plight of the poor at the center of his candidacy, a dramatic course correction for a party that’s long been tagged as beholden to the rich. With Romney’s exit from the 2016 field last week, Bush is the only viable superwealthy Republican running for office — he has made millions working in private equity and sitting...

Margaret Thatcher famously said that her greatest success as a politician was the rise of Tony Blair to lead a party he called New Labour: “We forced our opponents to change their minds.” As yet, Barack Obama can make no similar boast. Just the opposite: He radicalized his Republican opponents, and empowered most those who agreed with him least. With the presidential campaign of Jeb Bush, Obama can finally glimpse Thatcher-style success. Here, at last, is an opponent in his own image. What can the son and brother of a president, grandson of a senator, and great grandson of the...

Jeb Bush on Wednesday will introduce the core principles of an economic platform that could become the central tenant of an eventual presidential campaign. In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, the former Florida governor will tap into the struggles of "too many Americans (who) live on the edge of economic ruin," debuting what Bush dubs a "new vision" to create more economic opportunity in the U.S. and give Americans "the right to rise," according to prepared remarks.

Got $25,000 to flush down the toilet? You, too, can be a member of a GOP host committee welcoming Big Biz GOP 2016 candidate Jeb Bush and Big Fail GOP ex-House Majority Whip-turned-lobbyist Eric “Cufflinks” Cantor. The tone-deafness. It burns.

The Wall Street Journal’s influential editorial board rapped New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on the knuckles for “meandering” on vaccines. “The real public health problem isn’t a lack of parental choice but a lack of common sense about vaccines,” the Journal said in a late-Monday editorial. It added that lawmakers should do more to promote vaccine use.

Some of the most influential players in big-money conservative politics gathered late last month to discuss government’s role in society, but their focus kept shifting to a less weighty topic: Rand Paul’s outfit. The Kentucky senator and prospective GOP presidential candidate — whose libertarian politics mesh with those of the billionaire megadonor brothers Charles and David Koch — appeared at the annual winter meeting of the Koch donor network wearing a boxy blue blazer, faded jeans and cowboy boots.

Scott Walker is decidedly not for amnesty for undocumented immigrants. But what immigration policy is he for? The Wisconsin governor, fresh off a speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit that earned rave reviews, and currently enjoying a popularity surge — he’s just pulled ahead of the Republican presidential pack in Iowa for the first time — stopped by ABC’s This Week earlier today for an interview with Martha Raddatz. After grilling Walker on foreign policy and getting him to say he wouldn’t rule out sending ground troops to Syria, Raddatz shifted the conversation to immigration. Stipulating that Walker supported securing...

Marco Rubio sees room for himself in the GOP's crowded 2016 field — and is starting to throw elbows to make space. The Florida senator is moving full throttle towards a White House bid, hitting the road hard to raise money and elevate his profile. While allies and advisors say he hasn’t made a final decision, most now privately expect he’ll take the plunge.

Mitt Romney’s decision to forgo a third try at the White House has settled the question of whether the 2016 GOP presidential field has a front-runner — bestowing a coveted status on former Florida governor Jeb Bush that also raises new challenges and perils. Republicans have a tradition of picking an anointed one early. That establishment candidate almost always ends up with the nomination, although not without a fight and some speed bumps along the way.

A new poll suggests that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush stands to gain the most from Mitt Romney’s decision not to run for president for the third time. A Fox News poll released Thursday before Mr. Romney’s decision was announced found that Mr. Bush was the second choice of many who favored Mr. Romney, and would lead the field in his absence. Although Mr. Romney would have led the field with 21% of Republicans surveyed by Fox, the poll found that in his absence Mr. Bush rose to No. 1 spot with 15%, followed by Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee...

Mitt Romney’s exit from the 2016 presidential race sets up a critical challenge for Jeb Bush, top Republicans say: If the former Florida governor can scoop up many of Romney’s big donors, he would set himself up as the dominant front-runner in the establishment wing of the party — and make life much more difficult for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. “It sets up the first big test for Jeb on whether he can start closing all these big donors right now and cement his status as the premier candidate in the field and the one who offers the best...