Jeb declines invitation to Steve King (R-IA) summit. Others (Cruz, Christie, Perry, Huckabee accept.

[pampango]

Bush declines invitation to speak at immigration hard-liner’s Iowa summit

Bush’s decision to bypass the Iowa Freedom Summit, slated for Jan. 24, was confirmed by his office and by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), the event’s organizer, who has sparked controversy for his comments about illegal immigrants.

Bush’s absence from King’s stage is a departure from the rest of the emerging Republican field, where many hopefuls have already privately reached out to King in an attempt to cultivate their relationship with the congressman, who is considered a conservative power broker. Potential GOP presidential contenders scheduled to appear include New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, businessman Donald Trump, and tea-party favorite Ben Carson, a Maryland neurosurgeon.

King, who is an influential member of the House GOP’s conservative bloc, is best known for forcefully opposing efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform. In 2013, he made headlines when he said some illegal immigrants had “calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”

Steve Deace, a firebrand talk-radio personality, however, said Bush, who is known for his pragmatic streak and uneasiness with combative political rhetoric, would face challenges. He cited Bush’s support of a path to legalization for illegal immigrants and his support of Common Core, a program of national education standards, as hurdles. “Bush is a pure Washington fantasy,” Deace said. “Conservatives in the rest of the country are not going to buy it.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/12/31/bush-declines-invitation-to-speak-at-immigration-hard-liners-iowa-summit/

Interesting that Jeb appears to be trying to avoid catering to the tea party at the outset. Given past republican presidential primaries, he will have to veer to the right to keep up with the other candidates.

[sharp_stick]

1. Smart move on Jeb's part

it plays well with the nutjob base but nobody that tags along with Steve King is going to win the Presidency.

[Tashca]

5. I agree

I think Jeb is confident that he will win the nomination.
I think he is going to play towards the 2-3% that wins the election. He could care less about the other 90+%. I believe Hillary will do something similar.

Playing with the whack-a-doodle club is not in his interest.

[riversedge]

2. Jeb is ahead in latest poll....

From the OP:

........A CNN nationwide poll of Republicans, released Monday, shows Bush ahead of his potential competitors, with 23 percent support. Christie followed at 13 percent, and Carson was third with 7 percent.

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. He's positioning himself as the "not insane" one. Not hard to do in that field.

[JI7]

4. jeb is counting on the crazies to split the votes

While he gets those who are still right wing assholes but know they need to appeal to others to win.

[misterhighwasted]

6. And Jeb will appeal to the Hispanic population to split the Dem votes

He is fluent in Spanish, and of course will tout his Hispanic wife & children. And this will be a rather strong tool against the Democratic opponent.
This is the only area of a Jeb candidacy that tends to worry me.
And Jeb will play that card for all its worth.

[lpbk2713]

7. Jeb might as well give it up.

He'll always be a Bush. And the Bush name will always have a
stench about it. And there's not a damn thing he can do about it.

[olddots]

8. everyday Albania looks better to me .......

Great choices = center right or one percenter dictator wanna be .