Jeb quests for the college vote

At the outset of the 2016 campaign, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was expected to make a push for demographics recently neglected by his party — among them, the youth vote.

His planned efforts to do so got him named “The Most Interesting Man In Politics,” when he graced the cover of Time Magazine in 2014. His efforts to expand the GOP’s reach have thus far been relatively muted, however, with his low poll numbers.

Unless he recovers, Paul’s showing in the presidential campaign could be triggering an all-out race among other GOP candidates for his voters. Ted Cruz is already targeting libertarians, and — perhaps an unlikely candidate — establishment favorite Bush seems to be making a large push for voters aged 18-24.

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Bush, known for his expansive fundraising operation, invites younger people to help take part in that effort.

Bush’s youngest son, 31-year-old Jeb Bush, Jr., invites college and other young voters in a letter to join a campaign program called NEXT, a program that “provides upcoming and future leaders the opportunity to be active and engaged with the campaign by taking on leadership roles in our fundraising and political efforts.”

Jeb touted the program and his youth outreach efforts on Twitter, boasting that he has a college presence in all but six states, and that Jeb outfits are on at least 300 campuses.

The extent to which he could cut into Paul’s youth support on the Right, or Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders’s popularity with young voters on the Left, remains to be seen.

The Bush campaign was reached further comment, but did not provide one.