Former Florida governor Jeb Bush's blossoming presidential campaign has one pivotal advantage other GOP hopefuls don't: Bush has two former presidents in his family tree.
George W. Bush will offer his younger brother a helping hand Wednesday as he headlines a Dallas-area fundraiser for Right to Rise, Jeb's "super PAC" - or political action committee - that earned over $1 million in a single day last month. Attendees anticipating George W. in this rare public appearance are suggested to donate $5,000 for an individual and $100,000 for a couple.
On Thursday, former president George H. W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush are expected to attend a fundraiser in Houston. This despite the Bush father's deteriorating health.
"My dad is 90 years old, going on 91, and he can't walk, but he's still got great spirits and has a great mind still," Jeb told a group of South Carolina Republicans last week. "It's hard to see him not being able to walk. But he's still doing fine."
Bush's tour of his home state comes on the heels of Texas senator Ted Cruz's official entrance into the 2016 presidential race. The timing is coincidental in that both Cruz and aspiring nominee Rick Perry are both on the road campaigning.
"He is going to shatter every fundraising that's ever been set," Cruz said in speaking with ABC News." He's set the goal of $100 million this first quarter, my guess is he blows past that goal. He ends up raising way more than $100 million." Cruz added that the Republican nomination won't come down to donor funds because elections are "decided by real live people."
While "super PAC" funds don't have to be disclosed until July, many expect Jeb to exceed the $42 million Mitt Romney raised during the primaries ahead of his GOP nomination.
Invitations to this week's fundraisers were sent by Jeb's PAC's Texas Leadership Committee. Among the invitees are former United States Commerce Secretary Don Evans, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, beer distributor John Nau, homebuilder David Weekley, and former ambassador to Switzerland Pam Willeford.
Nau and Weekley are among listed donors who previously helped in Perry's gubernatorial campaign.
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