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In Detroit, Jeb Bush talks about restoring the American Dream

 
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks Wednesday morning at the Detroit Economic Club. Bush, the son of former President George H.W. Bush and the brother of former President George W. Bush, is considering becoming a Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential election. [Getty Images]
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks Wednesday morning at the Detroit Economic Club. Bush, the son of former President George H.W. Bush and the brother of former President George W. Bush, is considering becoming a Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential election. [Getty Images]
Published Feb. 4, 2015

WASHINGTON — Jeb Bush delivered his first speech as an unofficial candidate for president on Wednesday in Detroit, casting himself as a conservative reformer and saying the recovering economy has overlooked many Americans.

"How do we restore America's faith in the moral promise of our great nation that any child born today can reach further than their parents?" Bush said. "This is an urgent issue: Far too many Americans live on the edge of economic ruin. And many more feel like they're stuck in place, working longer and harder, even as they're losing ground."

The former Florida governor, appearing before about 600 people at the Detroit Economic Club, has been mainly raising money for his Right to Rise political committees. Wednesday's speech marked a new phase of public appearances as he moves toward an expected 2016 run.

His nearly 25-minute speech reflected thinking that the GOP needs to appeal to a wider base and how Bush intends to compete for middle-class voters, showing sympathy for their struggles. It also pointed to a campaign based on a hopeful message as Bush largely eschewed the hard-right rhetoric many leading figures in the GOP employ, saying conservatives have good alternatives.

"So, I am getting involved in politics again, because that's where the work has to begin," he said. "The opportunity gap is the defining issue of our time."

Bush, 61, has quickly assembled a political team and coalesced support from top donors and establishment figures. Last week's withdrawal of Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee, solidified Bush's front-runner status but also makes him a bigger target in a growing field of potential candidates. Democrats jumped on Bush's opposition to the auto bailout, which economists say saved the iconic industry.

Bush breezed through his speech, sometimes stiffly, and did not provide many policy details, saying that would come in the weeks ahead. He avoided any mention of his support of the Common Core education standards and barely mentioned immigration.

But Bush addressed immigration at length later during a question and answer period, carefully framing his answer by saying the country must secure the border before moving to a merit-based system that rewards people with work skills rather than the family-based immigration system in place. The Chamber of Commerce-style audience applauded, but Bush's support for comprehensive reform remains an issue with the activist conservative base.

"This should be the lowest-hanging fruit," Bush said, citing declining U.S. birthrates. "The immigrant experience in our country makes us unique and special and different and it is part of our extraordinary success over time. So while the political fights go on, we're missing this opportunity. I view fixing a broken system as a huge opportunity" to grow the economy.

Asked about the debate over vaccinations, he was blunt: "Parents ought to make sure their children are vaccinated. Do we need to get into any detail about it?"

He was also confronted with a question about his surname and conceded it makes for an "interesting challenge." He expressed love for his father and brother, the former presidents, and jokingly challenged anyone who doesn't love his father to "go outside" and fight. Unless, he added, that person was 6-foot-5 and younger. "Then we'll negotiate. I'll still not going change my mind, for sure."

Overcoming the Bush fatigue, he said, could be done by making a "human connection" with voters. Bush said he did so in his first successful campaign for Florida governor in 1998, visiting 250 schools to show he was serious about education.

"Trust me, by the end of that journey, people knew that I wasn't just the brother of George W. and the son of my beloved dad, I was my own person," he said. "I earned it by working hard to connect to people on a level that truly mattered."

In that regard he aims to speak to people who have not fully shared in the economic recovery, who see the American Dream slipping.

"Something is holding them back," Bush said. "Not a lack of ambition. Not a lack of hope. Not because they are lazy or see themselves as victims. Something else. Something is an artificial weight on their shoulders." That weight, he said, is government and he cited regulations and fines from the former leaders of Detroit.

Signaling he plans to seek support in areas considered unfriendly to Republicans, Bush said: "Let's go where our ideas can matter most. Where the failures of liberal government are most obvious. Let's deliver real conservative success.

"And you know what will happen? We'll create a whole lot of new conservatives. I know, because I've lived it."

In theme and tone, Bush sounded remarkably similar to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a Bush ally who is heading toward his own run for president. The 43-year-old Rubio, a more graceful public speaker, has grabbed the reform mantle and is seeking to appeal more to middle-class voters. An eroding American Dream has long been a focus of Rubio.

Bush unwittingly referenced Rubio in another way. An audience member asked Bush if he had been courted in 2006 to take the job as NFL commissioner. It's true, he replied, but after the "flattery" from team owners he decided against it. Rubio often jokes that's the one job he truly wants.

Rubio will beat Bush to Iowa; he's headed there next week to promote his book, American Dreams. Bush will show up in the first nominating state in early March.

Contact Alex Leary at aleary@tampabay.com. Follow @learyreports.