WASHINGTON (CNN) — As former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush considers whether to enter the Republican presidential sweepstakes, he is lending his powerful name to an increasingly busy schedule of fundraisers and events for candidates seeking re-election.
Bush, who raised money for the Republican National Committee last month, will appear with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam at a business leaders’ forum on education reform Wednesday and then headlines a fundraiser for Sen. Lamar Alexander that evening in Nashville. Both Haslam and Alexander are running for re-election.
Bush will try to help the GOP keep control of the House of Representatives when he appears at an event for the National Republican Congressional Committee Sunday in Dallas to help increase its coffers. The next day there he is co-hosting a Globalization of Higher Education conference. Education reform is one of Bush’s major priorities.
One of the keynote speakers at the Dallas event will be former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — who could end up being his opponent in 2016 if both decide to seek their party’s presidential nominations and then end up winning those contests.
Next Wednesday he will travel to New Mexico to attend two fundraisers for first term Gov. Susana Martinez and then will head to Las Vegas where later in the week he will help raise money for Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and appear at an event for the influential Republican Jewish Coalition.
If Bush does seek the nomination, lending this type of support can turn out to be very helpful as one tries to build a network of allies to support a candidacy.
Last month during an appearance at New York’s Long Island Association, Bush repeated his timetable for when he will make a decision whether to seek the Republican presidential nomination telling the audience: “at the end of the year.”
In a CNN/ORC poll released earlier this month Bush came in fifth in a hypothetical match-up with other potential GOP candidates. Sen. Rand Paul came in first followed narrowly by House Budget Chairman and 2012 Vice Presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan.
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