Influential Republicans Working to Draft Jeb Bush

“Many of the Republican Party’s most powerful insiders and financiers have begun a behind-the-scenes campaign to draft former Florida governor Jeb Bush into the 2016 presidential race, courting him and his intimates and starting talks on fundraising strategy,” the Washington Post reports.

“Concerned that the George Washington Bridge traffic scandal has damaged New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) political standing and alarmed by the steady rise of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), prominent donors, conservative leaders and longtime operatives say they consider Bush the GOP’s brightest hope to win back the White House.”

Most interesting: “Many if not most of Mitt Romney’s major donors are reaching out to Bush and his confidants with phone calls, e-mails and invitations to meet, according to interviews with 30 senior Republicans. One bundler estimated that the ‘vast majority’ of Romney’s top 100 donors would back Bush in a competitive nomination fight.”