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U.S. Rep. David Jolly: 'I'm excited about a Jeb candidacy' — not Rubio

 
Published Jan. 31, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG — It's no surprise that U.S. Rep. David Jolly wants to see a Florida Republican move into the White House in 2017, but if the GOP nomination came down to a race between Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, the Indian Shores Republican says he's behind the former governor.

"I'm excited about a Jeb candidacy," Jolly told the Tampa Bay Times editorial board on Friday.

The support, he said, largely comes down to experience. Jolly said he was among those who criticized then-Sen. Barack Obama for a shallow political resume as he made his presidential bid in 2008.

"Marco doesn't bring that much more experience than Obama did, and we have to be honest about that if you're somebody who thinks experience is a qualification, as I do," Jolly said. "That's where I think Jeb's years as an executive and the length and diversity of his career uniquely qualifies him."

Jolly says he agrees with the conventional wisdom that Bush's stance on two key issues will present challenges among the conservative wing of the party.

"He's going to get hit out of the gate on immigration and Common Core," he said. "How he responds to that will define his strength as a candidate."

Jolly said Bush "is the right person to move the conversation to a responsible immigration reform platform."

"If he's talking about border security and a plan that begins to examine the status of the 11 million that are here undocumented currently, well, we have to face that," Jolly said. "If he's the Republican that's able to stand up and say we have the responsibility to face this, I think he can get us there."

Bush has "doubled down on Common Core," Jolly said, which will make his support for the education benchmarks a tougher challenge. Rubio is against the standards.

It's also an issue that divides Jolly and Bush. Jolly said he has talked "very directly" with the former governor about what the standards "would mean for him and would mean for those of us who are considering supporting him."

"I don't have a problem with standards, as long as they're elective," he said. "I don't think we can impose a mandate on the classroom."

Jolly said Bush's hard conservatism hasn't changed — rather, the party shifted right.

"I think the more people get to know Jeb Bush and revisit his record, they're going to realize he's a lot more conservative than what he's being branded."

Jolly, who has been in office nearly a year, also talked about some of his legislative priorities.

He plans to file a bill next week that would prevent the transfer of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay to Cuba. In a speech this week, Cuban President Raul Castro said normalized relations are not possible without closing the base, among other conditions. The White House said this week it has no intention of doing so, pointing to a legal provision making the lease permanent unless it is terminated by mutual agreement.

"Giving back the navy base is not something I believe is in our national security interest," Jolly said. "I'd like to take it off the table as a bargaining chip as the president continues to go down this road."

He also will co-sponsor a bill with Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., requiring candidates campaigning for federal office to abide by the national "Do Not Call" Registry prohibiting unsolicited calls.

Jolly said he's open to including language that puts the same requirement on political action committees, which are responsible for such a large volume of calls during election season.

"The establishment suggested you couldn't limit political candidates because it was personal political speech," he said. "I disagree with that."

Contact Tony Marrero at tmarrero@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8779. Follow @tmarrerotimes.