Jeb Bush Takes Aim At The White House

Jeb Bush formally announces he’s running for president. We’ll look at candidate Bush and the way ahead.

Jeb Bush made it official yesterday – ending six months of drum roll, speaking plenty of Spanish, and standing slimmed-down before a multi-ethnic crowd in Miami. He is formally running for president. The son and brother of presidents, dropping the family name from the placards in the hall. Saying no one deserves the job by right. Poking Hillary Clinton and his many Republican rivals as creators and sustainers of a Washington problem. Promising conservatism and economic growth and inclusion. This hour On Point: formally in the race. We’re looking at Jeb Bush.
-- Tom Ashbrook

S.V. Dáte, White House correspondent for the National Journal. Former editor of NPR News' Washington Desk and former Tallahassee bureau chief for the Palm Beach Post. Author of "Jeb: America's Next Bush." (@svdate)

Mona Charen, columnist with Creators Syndicate and a contributor to the National Review and the Washington Examiner. Senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. (@monachareneppc)

Alberto Cardenas, senior partner at the law firm Squire Patton Boggs, where he chairs the firm's Latin American practice. Republican Party lobbyist. (@alcardenasfl_dc)

National Journal: Jeb Bush on 2016: 'It's Nobody's Turn' — "Inside a modest auditorium at Miami Dade College, Bush reminded Floridians why he left office with an approval rating north of 60 percent. The former governor, with the blessing of an hour-long introduction from friends and onetime colleagues, ticked off a laundry list of accomplishments, striking a sharp contrast with many of his fresher-faced but less-tested Republican rivals.

Washington Post: How a devastating loss in Florida taught Jeb Bush what it takes to win -- "Humbled by defeat the first time he ran for office, Bush spent the mid-1990s broadening and deepening his knowledge of how his state worked, forging relationships that softened his profile and striving to talk about what he believed in a way that would bring people together."

National Review: Very Strong Speech From Jeb — "I’ve been a skeptic about the Jeb Bush candidacy, but he did himself a lot of good yesterday with a very strong announcement speech. Unlike Mrs. Clinton’s (second) announcement, it was uplifting and unifying rather than divisive and bitter. Conservatives who doubt his bona fides will find much to like. He hit a few big themes that resonate with the right, including the cronyism that characterizes government, the arrogance of the leviathan state ('It’s the Little Sisters versus Big Brother'), and the scary decline of the U.S. military (the 'greatest risk of all,' he said, is 'military inferiority')."