Bush hasn’t done anything lately to tamp down speculation that he will run for president in 2016. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
As former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush continues to do nothing to end speculation that he might run for president in 2016, his Florida ally, Sen. Marco Rubio, twists in the wind.
Florida and national insiders have been operating under the assumption that the two Florida Republicans would never run against each other for the nomination in three years.
Rubio, after all, owes his seat in the Senate to Bush’s quiet backing during the initial stages of 2010 GOP primary, which pitted Rubio against then-Gov. Charlie Crist. And when Crist dropped out of the primary to run as an independent, Bush quickly delivered a full-throated endorsement of Rubio.
But could the Bush-Rubio relationship change over the next year and a half?
Bush, 60, is widely regarded as one of his party’s brightest lights — a successful governor who is smart and politically appealing, and who is both the son and the brother of a former president. On the other hand, Rubio, 41, is still only a rising star in his first term in the Senate.
But Bush has a few liabilities that Rubio doesn’t have. Full story
