If you want to know why Jeb Bush is putting off his official candidacy until next month, well, he has about a hundred million reasons for that.
Jeb Bush is putting in motion an ambitious plan to develop a super PAC that would be unprecedented in its size and scope — a blueprint growing in scale and intensity as he nears the formal launch of his presidential campaign.
The group, called Right to Rise, is said to be on track for raising an historic $100 million by the end of May, and its budget is expected to dwarf that of Bush’s official campaign many times over. In interviews, more than half a dozen sources familiar with the Right to Rise plans described a juggernaut that was rapidly taking shape — from its likely headquarters in Los Angeles, 2,700 miles from the Miami office where Bush was basing his campaign, to a new fundraising push aimed at expanding its ballooning coffers.
Bush is even setting the timing of his official campaign announcement — which is increasingly likely to come in mid-June, following a trip to Europe — around a cross-country fundraising tour. In the final weeks leading up to the launch, his strategists have been devising a plan to allow both arms of the campaign — the official one and the super PAC — to work seamlessly, even as they will be legally barred from coordinating once he officially becomes a candidate.
There is little question that Right to Rise, with its deep cash reserve, will give Bush a leg up in the Republican nomination contest, especially if it becomes a protracted and costly affair.
“It’s an advantage. No question,” said Fred Malek, a prominent GOP donor who chairs the Republican Governors Association’s finance committee. “I think Bush will be able to raise three or four times as much as anyone else.”
So yeah, Jeb may be in the back of the pack right now in Iowa. Just give it a while, when he's able to pour tens of millions into ads every month for the next several months.
We're about to get the best Republican presidential candidate money can buy.
Fortunately, the size of the anonymous donations won't raise any conflicts of interest. After all, no Clintons will be involved, so the media types (whose owners/employers will undoubtedly be donating to this fund) will defend it as freedom of speech. One wonders how much longer bribery will remain a crime (at least, for Republicans).
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