--- title: Jeb Bush Starts Campaign With Outreach to Women, Minorities description: Jeb Bush starts White House run with clear pitch to voters who typically side overwhelmingly with Democrats: minorities and women canonical: https://time.com/3922142/jeb-bush-2016-diversity/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-15T22:22:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:08:31.452Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jeb Bush Seeks a Bigger Tent at Campaign Launch og:description: He's building off a blueprint laid out after the party's 2012 loss. og:url: https://time.com/3922142/jeb-bush-2016-diversity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a59bdf8df3fd698/698854a406f2c17b6e33aa79/jeb-bush-campaign-launch.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, speaks while announcing he will seek the 2016 Republican presidential nomination on the Kendall Campus of Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida, U.S., on Monday, June 15, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jeb Bush Seeks a Bigger Tent at Campaign Launch twitter:description: He's building off a blueprint laid out after the party's 2012 loss. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a59bdf8df3fd698/698854a406f2c17b6e33aa79/jeb-bush-campaign-launch.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jeb Bush Seeks a Bigger Tent at Campaign Launch > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ffc71ab5-ef29-456e-8cb0-bc14fb01520d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: See Jeb Bush's Political Career Through the Years [Watch (HLS stream): See Jeb Bush's Political Career Through the Years](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3nRIB78f.m3u8) (2:37)  _Published 2015-06-12. From his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 1994 through his decision to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, here are some of the top moments from Jeb Bush's political career._  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jun 15, 2015 10:22 PM UTC From his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 1994 through his decision to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, here are some of the top moments from Jeb Bush's political career.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jun 15, 2015 10:22 PM UTC Guests arrived at the community college to a soundtrack that included rapper Pitbull. The pregame show included the national anthem sung by salsa legend Willy Chirino and, before that, songs in Spanish from his daughters. Those who spoke ahead of the candidate lauded his work to combat domestic violence and to help those who rely on social-safety programs. The greying former governor slipped passages of perfect Spanish into his speech and promised a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s broken immigration system. His Mexican-born wife watched him with a cautious smile. Welcome to Jeb Bush’s version of the Grand Old Party, one that he hopes can woo female and minority voters away from their historic home in the Democratic fold — all while defending domestic programs. As the 62-year-old Bush launched his White House campaign on Monday near Miami, it was clear his campaign was taking seriously its goal of expanding the appeal of a party that has shifted further and further rightward. “I will campaign as I would serve, going everywhere, speaking to everyone, keeping my word, facing the issues without flinching and staying true to what I believe,” Bush said at a kickoff event that was stage-managed with a finesse typically reserved for incumbent Presidents. It perhaps came naturally to a candidate who is the son of one President and brother to another. “I will take nothing and no one for granted,” Bush continued, anticipating questions over whether the country needs a third Bush as President. “I will run with heart. I will run to win.” Left largely unsaid: the last Republican to win the White House was his brother, George W. Bush. The year was 2004. Since then, the party has seen itself overlooked by groups that are gaining their political clout as the nation’s demographics shift. Things were so dire after Mitt Romney’s loss in 2012 that the Republican National Committee — a body chaired four decades ago by another member of the Bush clan, George H.W. Bush — commissioned a report casually referred to as “the autopsy.” Five leading operatives dug into political trends and, among other recommendations, prescribed aggressive outreach to minority and female voters, as well as softened rhetoric on immigration. One of that landmark report’s five authors was Sally Bradshaw, a longtime Jeb Bush counselor who assembled his presidential campaign in waiting. Watching Bush’s rollout, it was as though he was building it from Bradshaw’s blueprint. And, if Bush secures the GOP nomination, these early efforts at outreach could help him run against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. **MORE:** [Full Text of Former Governor Jeb Bush’s Campaign Launch](http://time.com/3921956/jeb-bush-campaign-launch-transcript/) Of course, candidates matter. And while Bush comes from prime presidential pedigree, nothing is preordained and there are still seven long and competitive months before Iowa holds its leadoff Caucuses. Circling Bush is a stable for candidates looking to argue to very vocal conservative activists that Bush’s support for immigration reform is unacceptable and his backing of higher education standards is disqualifying. “There are two political dynasties eyeing 2016, and before conservatives try to beat Hillary, they first need to beat Bush,” said Mark Meckler, a co-founder of Tea Party Patriots. The dynastic nature of the race is a challenge that Bush has struggled to address. During an early foreign policy speech, he flatly declared that he was his own man, not a clone of former President George W. Bush. His brother left the White House after two terms with high disapproval ratings in opinion surveys and many conservatives’ scorn. The increasingly unpopular war in Iraq cratered his poll numbers while the economic crisis that crippled the economy in 2008 sent him home to Texas with few defenders. A Wall Street bailout may have averted a global financial meltdown but the use of taxpayer dollars prompted conservative outrage and planted the seeds of the antiestablishment tea-party movement that now threatens Jeb Bush’s candidacy. Their father, former President George H.W. Bush, is another story in the GOP. He remains a revered figure among establishment-minded Republicans with an unrivaled resume in U.S. politics: former President, Vice President, CIA director, ambassador and RNC chairman. Neither former President was in the crowd. Former First Lady Barbara Bush sat in the front row, however, and drew wild applause from the crowd when her son introduced her. “In this country of ours, the most improbable things can happen. Take that from a guy who met his first President on the day he was born, and his second on the day he was brought home from the hospital,” Bush said of his father and brother. In his bid to join upper reaches of the family business, Jeb Bush first faces a raft of serious rivals from Washington-based challengers Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida. (Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is trailing his Senate colleagues in fundraising and polling, but he has been making solid appearances before activists — and cable news — that could leave him in a solid understudy position should one of the marquee names stumble.) In national polling, Bush remains in the tight cluster of contenders atop opinion surveys, but he faces serious challengers nipping at his heels, including Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. In fundraising, he remains a formidable candidate although his advisers have signaled that he is expected to fall short of the $100 million goal some in his circle thought was possible to collect before officially launching his campaign. Bush put together a raft of highly regarded consultants and operatives, yet last week he shuffled his team and brought aboard a sharp-elbowed operative to take over as campaign manager. Bush is running hard to steady his internal operations and to win over conservatives who still view him skeptically. “Not a one of us deserves the job by right of resume, party, seniority, family or family narrative,” Bush said in a clear jab at his rivals. “It’s nobody’s turn … It is entirely up to me to earn the nomination of my party and then to take our case all across this great and diverse nation.” In that diversity, Bush hopes his outreach gives him an advantage. After all, he already has the soundtrack for the inauguration ready. ### See Jeb Bush's Life in Photos  George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, Jan. 1, 1955. Sygma/Corbis  From left to right: Doro, Marvin, Neil, and Jeb Bush, fall 1963. George Bush Presidential Library  From left to right: Doro, George, Jeb, Marvin, George W., Neil, and Barbara Bush, 1966. George Bush Presidential Library  Jeb Bush (center) was the varsity tennis team captain during his senior year at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., 1971. Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library  George Bush and his four sons, Neil, Jeb, George W. and Marvin in 1970. Bob E. Daemmrich—Sygma/Corbis  Jeb and Columba Bush on their wedding day, Feb. 23, 1974. George Bush Presidential Library  Jeb Bush loudly applauds his father, Republican presidential hopeful George Bush, at a campaign rally in Concord, N.H. on Feb. 28, 1980. Frank Lorenzo—Bettmann/Corbis  Vice President George Bush holds a fish with his sons George W. and Jeb during a family vacation in Kennebunkport, Maine in Aug. 1983. Cynthia Johnson—Getty Images  From left to right (without children): Neil and Sharon Bush, George W. Bush and wife Laura, Barbara and George Bush, Margaret and Marvin, Bobby Koch and Dorothy, Jeb and Columba, are seen in this Bush family photo taken in Kennebunkport, Maine on Aug. 24, 1986. Dave Valdez—White House/Sygma/Corbis  Jeb Bush plays cards with his son while riding in a recreational vehicle, Nov. 8, 1993. Christopher Little—Corbis  Jeb Bush is interviewed at a Miami Radio Station, WIOD, Mar. 1980\. He went on to become Governor of Florida in 1999. Tim Chapman—Getty Images  George W. Bush and Jeb Bush at the Republican Governors' Convention in New Orleans, 1998. Nina Berman—SIPA  Texas governor George W. Bush celebrates good news with his brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush, while watching the presidential election returns, prior to being elected as President of the United States, inside the Governor's Mansion in Austin, Nov. 7, 2000. Brooks Kraft—Sygma/Corbis  Republican governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, studies his laptop watching vote returns for his reelection his wife Columba Bush and his parents, former President George Bush and first lady Barbara Bush in Miami on Nov. 5, 2002. Joe Burbank—Orlando Sentinel/MCT/Getty Images  Republican nominee for President, Mitt Romney, campaigns around Florida with Governor Jeb Bush, left, Senator Marco Rubio, right, and Congressman Connie Mack, left back of head, in Coral Gables, Fla. on Oct., 31, 2012. Melina Mara—The Washington Post/Getty Images  Jeb Bush speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 27, 2015. Mark Peterson—Redux for TIME ## Transcript The younger Bush brother did not make the governor's chair in Florida. The older Bush brother, George W. Bush, did make it in Texas. This is a mixed night for the Bush family. I know we can do better. It requires a new style of leadership, commitment to service to others, and an ability to bring people together rather than divide I wanna be the governor that leads us there. And in Florida, Jeb Bush, 56 to 44 over Buddy MacKay, the Democratic candidate. My brother said in one of his speeches, my brother said he's gonna deliver Florida. [ LAUGH ] He did say That he said it more than once. Will he deliver it? He also told it was going to be a cold Thanksgiving dinner if I don't help him out, and then we're going to carry it. We could be in for a long night as voters decide whether Vice President Al Gore or Texas Governor George Bush will be the next president of the United States. It is that close. ABC News is now going to project that Florida goes to Mr. Bush. While the closest elections in American history Bush has won it. The rigor of the common core state standards must be the new minimum in classrooms. And so for those states that are choosing a path other than common core I say this. You should be aiming even higher. And be bolder and raise standards and ask more for our students and the system. The simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 Million people. We should give them a path to legal status. Where they work, where they don't receive government benefits, where they don't break the law, where they learn English, and where they make a contribution to our society. Knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion? I would of and so would of Hillary Clinton. Just to remind everybody and so would of almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got. By the way guess who thinks that those mistakes took place as well. George W. Bush. Your brother. Yeah. I mean so just for the news flash to the world that they're trying to find places that there's big space between me and my brother, this might not be one of those. I'm running for president in 2016, and the focus is going to be about how we, if I run, how do you create high sustained economic growth where more people have a chance at our success. I don't know if I'd be a good candidate or a bad one. Kinda know how a Republican can win, whether it's me or somebody else. And it has to be much more uplifting, much more positive, much more willing to be practical now in the Washington world. Lose the primary to win the general. 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