Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has openly attacked Donald Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on the trail for months, but his campaign has been working behind the scenes to diminish another top opponent: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, the governor’s son, held a private call with grassroots supporters on Wednesday and sought to reassure them that the Iowa caucus, which Cruz won, was an “aberration.” George P. Bush noted that the Hawkeye State has correctly selected the GOP nominee twice since 1972.
“I’m a Texan and my junior senator is Ted Cruz. The reason why he won is because he went all-in in Iowa,” Bush told supporters. “He had over 1,200 volunteers and devoted the better part of eight months to doing what he did, but if you look at a campaign over the course of 50 states not to mention six U.S. possessions that will have a voice in this, you’ll see that our campaign from a grassroots standpoint has the most organized level.”
When a Jeb Bush supporter asked for George P. Bush’s recommendation for the best talking points to use to win new voters, the governor’s son focused on contrasting Bush with Cruz and Rubio.
“We need a sensible, pragmatic conservative who’s got a substantive track record as a proven governor in a really important state like Florida and that’s something that’s unique about the top tier candidates that remain in this field,” George P. Bush said. “We’ve got two senators, one of whom is my senator, they give a great speech. They’re phenomenally talented, but we need an actual leader who’s been at the helm of a large state government.”
Bush, who ranks sixth in the Washington Examiner‘s newest GOP presidential power rankings, has leaned on his famous family heavily in recent days. The governor will campaign alongside his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush in New Hampshire on Thursday.
