Jeb Bush: GOP must embrace 'inclusion and acceptance'

By Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY | USATODAY

Jeb Bush, whose potential 2016 presidential candidacy would be the third from his immediate family, told a conservative gathering Friday that the Republican Party must embrace "inclusion and acceptance" in order to regain power.

"All too often we're associated with being anti-everything: anti-immigration, anti-women, anti-gay,'' Bush said in an address to the Conservative Political Action Conference, being held near Washington, D.C. "The face of the Republican Party needs to be the face of every American.''

Bush, the former governor of Florida, is the son of former President George H.W. Bush and the brother of former President George W. Bush.

In a new book, Bush outlines an immigration policy that puts him at odds with Congressional Republicans – he favors legal status, but not citizenship, for adult illegal immigrants. But a recent round of speeches and interviews to publicize the book and explain his position has fueled speculation he may be considering a run for president in 2016.

At CPAC, Bush made little mention of immigration but did call on Republicans to "reignite social and economic mobility in this country. It's called the right to rise.''

Bush advocated school choice and voluntarism.

Democrats have demonized wealth, he said, and Republicans must make the case that individual prosperity comes from creating, not taking."Success desperately needs to be cool again.''

Bush also highlighted economic developments that he says put the nation on the brink of a century of success: a potential energy surplus, technological supremacy, and, thanks to immigration, a younger population than overseas economic rivals.

"We potentially find ourselves at the threshold of our nation's greatest century,'' he said. "The fundamentals are aligning in a way that could allow us to race past our global competitors.''