According to the latest CNN national poll, Jeb Bush has reclaimed the lead among more than a dozen expected competitors for the Republican presidential nod for 2016.
At 16%, Bush bests Walker’s 13% with Carson and Huckabee barely into double-digits, a lead which brings RCP’s poll average to a statistical tie between Bush and Walker.
The poll, however, glosses over the fact that Walker still commands an important lead in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, which would explain why Bush is stepping up his travels to the states to build his grassroots bonafides ahead of an official announcement next month.
Headlining a Chamber of Commerce breakfast in Columbia, South Carolina yesterday, Bush took specific aim at President Obama to capitalize on the anti-Obama animus in the conservative state which easily unites Republicans.
Invoking the magnanimity of Ronald Reagan, Bush challenged, “Leadership is not about pulling out a teleprompter and giving a great speech and dividing the country,” he said. “Leadership is about figuring out ways where people that don’t have complete agreement on something figure out a way to get to ‘yes’ so the problems can be solved and that we start doing this on a regular basis.”
