Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has yet to declare his candidacy, received the warmest reception out of an array of GOP presidential contenders at the Economic Growth Summit in Orlando on Tuesday.
The event was hosted at Disney World by the state’s current Republican governor, Rick Scott.
While Sen. Marco Rubio, another favorite son of Florida, was set to attend the cattle call, he had to stay in Washington instead and vote on a national security bill, ceding much of the Florida storyline to Bush, his former colleague.
But Rubio nonetheless helped set the tone for the event, drawing a contrast with Bush, Hillary Clinton, and other older contenders.
“Our outdated leaders continue to cling to outdated ideas,” Rubio said, without naming names. Meanwhile, Rubio, as he’s been doing on the trail, tried to paint himself as a fresh face.
“Kind of hard to imagine that my good friend, Marco, would be critical of his good friend, Jeb,” Bush said when asked about Rubio’s remarks.
It was one of many times that Bush avoided lodging any attacks against his potential rivals.
While he seemed eager to get his campaign started — “My expectation, my hope is I’ll be a candidate. I really do,” he said — Bush continued to keep his eyes trained on the general election.
“Every one of the candidates running is far more qualified and … would have been a better president than Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton,” he said during his speech, drawing big applause from the audience.
Rubio and Bush, who’ve had a close relationships for years due to their work in Tallahassee, took the top two spots in CNN/ORC International’s new poll issued on Tuesday at 14% and 13%, respectively.
Their ties to the state and its donor class are one reason why Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at first hinted that he wouldn’t play in Florida, though he walked those comments back on Tuesday and said he would compete in the state.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told reporters he’d “absolutely” campaign in the state if he runs, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was slightly more hesitant to make such a promise.
“We don’t even know who’s in the race yet, and we don’t know how many are going to be still on their feet by the time we get to the Florida primary, so let me hold off on specific tactics,” Huckabee told reporters.
Along with Jindal, Bush, Walker and Huckabee, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry also spoke, each offering their experience as an executive as a selling card.
For his part, Bush acknowledged the race — already with nine candidates and still more to come — will be competitive.
“There’s going to be some elbows and knees under the board here,” he said. “This isn’t Tiddlywinks we’re playing.”
If he runs, he has repeatedly said, he has one objective in mind.
“There are a lot of motivations for every candidate. Mine would be to win,” Bush said.