The race for the Republican 2016 presidential campaign looks like it already has begun, with about 15 major party figures mulling a bid for the White House.
Some -- such as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan -- have been very open about it. Rubio already has traveled to Iowa and has been featured in GQ magazine since the election. Jindal has been publicly urging a more refined version of conservatism.
Those three are competing with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to be the top modern conservative. Meanwhile Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has said he’s considering a run as a libertarian like his father.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who bombed in his 2012 presidential effort, says he’s considering another run. And speculation is building around former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who could run as a conservative with appeal to Hispanics.
“You have this young crop, of attractive, successful, proven problem-solvers,” former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour
told Politico. “Old guys like me have to get out of the way.”
The big focus now is finding someone who can reverse the large advantage Barack Obama enjoyed over Mitt Romney among minorities and women.
The New York Times speculated on its front page Friday about whether Bush will run.
“It’s neither a no nor a yes. It’s a wait and see,” Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a long-time adviser to Bush, tells the paper. “It continues to intrigue him.”
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