2012 Watch: Jeb Bush Says He's Out, Rick Santorum Pitches Run

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Republicans ,; Campaign 2012

Jeb Bush

(Credit: Getty Images/Dennis Brack)

The jockeying over which Republican will take on President Obama in 2012 is in full swing, with some likely candidates (Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty) taking all the traditional steps to set up a run while other potential challengers test the waters.

One Republican who has generated considerable speculation inside Washington is former Florida governor Jeb Bush, brother of President George W. Bush and son of President George H.W. Bush. Bush has become more politically active in recent months, appearing at fundraisers and making endorsements, and is well positioned to win the key early primary state of Florida should he enter the race.

Now comes word that Bush is ruling himself out. "I am not running for president," he told Louisville ABC affiliate WHAS, according to Politico.

Bush previously elected to forgo a Florida Senate run. It's worth noting that many presidential candidates - among them Barack Obama - flatly insisted they would not seek the presidency before jumping into the race.

Rick Santorum

(Credit: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Meanwhile, Rick Santorum, the socially conservative former Pennsylvania senator crushed in his reelection bid four years ago, is making his plans to enter the race more and more obvious. (CBSNews.com profiled Santorum in April, and he acknowledged that he was considering a run.)

As CNN reports, Santorum "met privately last week with several of his former Capitol Hill staffers to pitch the idea of a presidential bid in 2012."

Unlike Bush, Santorum has good reason to play up a possible run: Despite maintaining his profile among conservatives (a Friday guest-hosting gig on Bill Bennett's radio show helped), he needs to make waves to get the attention of the political establishment. He has been traveling to key early primary states and is poised to make a play for the social conservative niche that helped propel Mike Huckabee to a win in the Iowa caucuses in the 2008 cycle.

Also potentially inching closer to a run is South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the one possible candidate that DNC executive director Jennifer O'Malley Dillon recently said gives her nightmares.

In an effort to burnish his policy credentials, as Politico reports, Thune is putting forward a budget plan that mandates creation of a panel to cut government spending, establish a line-item veto and mandate that the deficit be reduced at a rate of ten percent per year until it is gone.

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Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by liberal4evr July 28, 2010 10:31 AM EDT: santorum called for a balk...no pitch. the usa doesn't need rick forrest gump santorum for president.; Reply to this comment


by TooComplex July 28, 2010 8:58 AM EDT: Geez! Financially, we can't afford another Bush in office; or another Republican, for that matter. The prior two Bushs practically destroyed the economy, leaving the unpopular task of cleaning up to a Democrat. The party of "fiscal responsibility" is anything but.; Reply to this comment

by pasmalltown July 28, 2010 8:44 AM EDT

by perish2 July 27, 2010 10:13 PM EDT
luccanla..

"Why is he a bigot?"
---------------------
In case you haven't paid attention, Santorum got this "label" when he spoke out in 2003 about homosexuality. He liken sex between same gender to incest, bigamy, et al.

"Two prominent Republican moderates have been appropriately critical of Santorum. ?Discrimination and bigotry have no place in our society, and I believe Senator Santorum?s unfortunate remarks undermine Republican principles of inclusion and opportunity,? says Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-Rhode Island, says that, ?I thought his choice of comparisons was unfortunate and the premise that the right of privacy does not exist?just plain wrong. Senator Santorum?s views are not held by this Republican and many others in our party.?"
http://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/santorum/sneditorials013.htm

In addition, Santorum's views on illegal immigration do not sit well withy the Hispanic community, whether he can speak the language or not.
"..the former senator believes that English should be established as the national language in the United States."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Santorum

He also tried to cheat the Penn Hills School district out of tuition costs for his children to attend a private school......And he got PA to pay for his bill to the school district.
"In September 2006, the Pennsylvania Department of Education agreed to pay the district $55,000 to settle the dispute over money withheld from the district to pay for the children of U.S. Senator Rick Santorum to attend a cyber charter school."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Santorum

So in a nutshell, many believe that Santorum is a bigot and cheat. Although you certainly are entitled to your views, you need to respect those of others and leave your Rush comments out of the conversation
as just as the "left (h)as lunatic hatemongerers" so does the "right" and Rush fits that "fear and hate mongering" mentality that plays into the "emotions of the day". Pointing fingers back and forth between the far right and the far left serves NO "porpuse". Whereas you may think Santorum fits the "perfect bill" for president, he remains too far right to garner enough votes to be successful in 2012. Unless of course, his "time off" from office has tempered his fundementalist social views, he cannot "hope to fill the bill"....
He really needs to take his "church" out of his "politics" or find a way to "separate" the two.

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by perish2 July 28, 2010 11:56 AM EDT: to pasmalltown..

I asked because the remark was made and no such accusation should be allowed to stand uncontested without evidence. I honestly don't know much about him and since demorats say nasty things about everybody, I'd like to hear a little more before I join the attack squad. As far as Rush goes, I only hear him every now and then when I drive somewhere. Church as you call it, is a part of what makes people the person that they are. Asking for them to not allow their beliefs to influence other aspects of their lives is like asking them to be someone else. Remember, though, the worsts genocides of the twentieth century were committed by governments who actively worked to suppress or do away with religion.

by luccanla July 27, 2010 8:04 PM EDT

The Republican Party should run this bigot and surely the Democrats will win.

Rick Santorum, makes Bush look like a saint. This guy needs to crawl back into the hole he came out of.

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by perish2 July 27, 2010 10:13 PM EDT: luccanla..

Why is he a bigot?


by perish2 July 27, 2010 8:00 PM EDT: to maintain_integrity..

You will be so happy to know that I had to go somewhere earlier today and caught Rush Limbaugh on the radio. He said to tell you "Hi" and that he appreciates your effort at portraying the left as lunatic hatemongerers. He said "keep up the good work!"; Reply to this comment


by zoeymaddy July 27, 2010 6:41 PM EDT: well i think we have had enough bushs in the white house.and hopefully,after what king george the second did hopefully no one would vote for jeb anyway,but i don't like santorum either.santorum was a bush2 puppet,and he did nothing for the people of the u.s.a or his constituents of his home state of pennsylvania,so i would not vote for him but if the republicans can come up with a decent candidate who knows the gop could take over the white house.; Reply to this comment


by perish2 July 27, 2010 6:40 PM EDT: If Jeb Bush supports Rick Santorum, we could get another Bush behind the scenes this time. If Santorum starts honing his Spanish skills and doesn't say anything too right wing like offering anti flag burning ammendments, he might have a really good chance. You get a Spanish speaking candidate running constant commercials on all the hispanic stations and it would be a whole new ball game.; Reply to this comment

by 45ford July 27, 2010 6:39 PM EDT

Despite whatever merits Jeb Bush thought existed for him to consider a presidential run, his dad and brother have forever nixed any chance for another Bush to be U.S. President again. Just hearing the words 'president' and 'Bush' in correlating contexts or talking about it historical makes people cringe and wince in distress.

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by zoeymaddy July 27, 2010 6:43 PM EDT: 45ford,that was very well said,and from your lips to gods ears


by astro1959 July 27, 2010 6:26 PM EDT: Well I guess that answers the question ? Does Youes Misss Me Yet??. Hell Know we don?t miss you Moron, or your family either!!!; Reply to this comment


by Simifanene July 27, 2010 6:19 PM EDT: That's just what we need, another jackal smiling oil baron, fool leading our nation. It's time to change the campaigning laws. We must limit the funds any one person or entity can make. We can't allow one trillionair or one massive rich & powerful corporation to buy our legislators. We must change our laws and start electing the best person for the Oval office based upon his character, experience and wisdom. If we keep allowing trillionairs and Corporate America to choose and buy our legislatiors our votes will become meaningless. We will become mindless puppets that the rich can pull the strings to make us dance to their music.; Reply to this comment