Bush: Romney and I avoided 'awkward side' in meeting

Jeb Bush says he and potential 2016 presidential rival Mitt Romney talked about the New England Patriots and foreign policy at a private meeting in Utah earlier this week, but that “the awkward side of this, about running … we put aside,” according to media reports.

Bush described the encounter at a question-and-answer session that followed his speech to the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in San Francisco on Friday.


It was the former Florida governor’s first major public appearance since announcing in December that he is exploring a run for the White House, and his speech touched on a range of issues, including immigration, energy and the need for more compromise in Washington, The Associated Press reported.

Bush criticized President Barack Obama, but he also tweaked his own party.

“We’re not going to win votes as Republicans unless we can lay out a hopeful, optimistic message that’s based in reality, that’s grounded in a set of policies that are real, that people believe can actually happen,” Bush said, according to The Los Angeles Times. “Hope and a positive agenda wins out over anger and reaction every day of the week.”

Bush’s meeting with Romney on Thursday had been scheduled before the former Massachusetts governor said earlier this month that he, too, was considering running for president, for what would be the third time.

Bush and Romney are already reaching out to many of the same donors and other GOP supporters as they lay the groundwork for their potential campaigns. Some Republicans have said they worry that if both Bush and Romney run, it could split the GOP establishment and let a candidate from the party’s more conservative wing snag the nomination.