President (To Win Colorado) See Full Big Line

(D) Kamala Harris

(R) Donald Trump

80%↑

20%

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

(R) V. Archuleta

98%

2%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

(R) Marshall Dawson

95%

5%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Hurd

(D) Adam Frisch

52%↑

48%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert

(D) Trisha Calvarese

90%

10%

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Crank

(D) River Gassen

80%

20%

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

(R) John Fabbricatore

90%

10%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) B. Pettersen

(R) Sergei Matveyuk

90%

10%

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(R) Gabe Evans

52%↑

48%↓

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

5%

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
June 03, 2015 11:43 AM UTC

Is Jeb Bush Cheating?

  • 2 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
What's in your hand, Jeb?
What’s in your hand, Jeb?

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is running for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2016, so why does he get to continue to pretend otherwise when it suits his campaign? The New York Times has an interesting story on walking the legal line as an official “candidate” for President:

Jeb Bush is under growing pressure to acknowledge what seems obvious to some voters and election lawyers: He is running for president.

The lawyers say Mr. Bush, a former Florida governor, is stretching the limits of election law by crisscrossing the country, hiring a political team and raising tens of millions of dollars at fund-raisers, all without declaring — except once, by mistake — that he is a candidate.

Some election experts say Mr. Bush passed the legal threshold to be considered a candidate months ago, even if he has not formally acknowledged it. Federal law makes anyone who raises or spends $5,000 in an effort to become president a candidate and thus subject to fund-raising, spending and disclosure rules. Greater latitude is allowed for those who, like Mr. Bush, say they are merely “testing the waters” for a possible run…

…The issue is not one of mere semantics. If Mr. Bush did declare that he is running, it would bring a raft of election restrictions, including a limit of $2,700 on contributions, and a ban on “coordinating” with a “super PAC” he has used to raise money.

But much of campaign finance law is a subject of dispute, and defining who is a candidate is no exception.

This issue is rapidly turning into a public relations disaster for Jeb Bush. On Sunday, Bush appeared on the CBS show “Face the Nation” and was asked point-blank if he was violating the law by not officially declaring as a candidate for President. “No, of course not,” was his answer (the New York Times reports that Jeb appeared “jarred” by the question).

We can understand the apparent advantages of not officially declaring your candidacy, but this seems like a pretty silly risk for Bush to take when there are plenty of other ways to raise money that are not subject to individual contribution limits. How do you convince people to support you for President when you refuse to even admit that you are running for the office?

Comments

2 thoughts on “Is Jeb Bush Cheating?

  1. Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie . . . like Gardner. 

    Why not?  I mean, really, what's the downside these days?  

    (Other than we get a flock of shitbag liars in public office — but, we've pretty much come to not only tolerate, but to expect and maybe even demand that.  Honesty is, apparently, as much overrated as it is quaint anymore, I suppose.)

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments


Posts about

Donald Trump
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Lauren Boebert
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Yadira Caraveo
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado House
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado Senate
SEE MORE

101 readers online now

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!