Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says that he’s not the same person as his brother, former President George W. Bush, but that he does rely on the 43rd president for advice.
“Of course I’m going to ask my brother his advice,” the former Florida governor told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, also saying that his brother isn’t the only one he relies on for advice.
“Am I the same as my brother? Of course not — I’m not,” he said. “I think, for example, our foreign policy ought to be grounded in not just the export of our own values, or nation-building — those are good sentiments — but first and foremost, in security and peace. And I think what we’ve seen under this president is as we’ve pulled back, we’re creating an incredibly insecure world.”
“And the narrative that the left wants to bring, which is either you’re for this nuanced view of pulling back and that we’re leading from behind and that we’re part of the community of nations and blah blah blah, that if you don’t believe that you’re a warmonger, I just reject out of hand,” he said. “The broad bipartisan consensus in the post-World War II era is to have a certain America, an America that leads — an America that understand its power should be used judiciously, but it needs to be used whenever it’s appropriate to do so. That’s not what we have today.”
Mr. Bush, a potential 2016 GOP presidential contender who is also the son of former President George H.W. Bush, contended that he can offer ideas of the future.
“I’m not part of Washington,” he said. “I got to serve as governor of a state, a purple state, and I was the most successful conservative governor probably during the time that I was there. I’d say [former Indiana Governor] Mitch Daniels and Jeb Bush are the two most successful governors. I can tell that story, and I can offer ideas that are about the future, not the past, and I’m energetic and passionate about the things we need to fix.”
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“I don’t feel old — I don’t feel like yesterday’s news, and I’m not,” he continued.
Mr. Bush currently holds a slight lead in RealClearPolitics’ latest average of public polling on the 2016 GOP presidential nominating contest, but said everybody need to “take a chill pill” on polls “until it gets closer.”
“I have enjoyed my time — I’ve traveled to a lot of different places; I’ve been everywhere,” he said. “I’ve had 20 press gaggles. I go do town hall meetings, don’t screen the questions.”
He said he doesn’t have what he called a “protective bubble” like 2016 Democratic presidential frontrunner and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“[I] don’t have town hall meetings or roundtable discussions where I pick who gets to come, and I screen the questions, and the press has to behave a certain way,” he said. “I’m having fun doing this, and I think it’s better for candidates to be out amongst [them].”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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