Buzz Builds For Bush Senate Run

He could fill a Republican leadership void in Washington. He could steer the national agenda in his own conservative direction.

And maybe he could rehabilitate the Bush political brand.

Those are reasons why some friends and political experts say Jeb Bush is leaning toward doing something he always said he never wanted to do: run for the U.S. Senate.

Bush has said publicly only that he is considering running for the seat Florida Sen. Mel Martinez will leave when his term is up in 2010.

But friends and political associates say that behind the scenes, he's being deluged by Republicans urging him to.

"I can't tell you the number of people who have asked me for his contact information, saying they want to tell him they want him to run," said Fort Lauderdale lawyer Justin Sayfie, a former Bush administration official and GOP activist.

Those doing the urging include his brother, President George W. Bush.

At a White House Christmas party Thursday, "the president was just effusively promoting it to all the Floridians, and so was Laura," said accountant and GOP financial consultant Nancy Watkins of Tampa. "He was saying, 'We've gotta get Jeb going for the Senate.'"

Some of those friends say Jeb Bush doesn't need much arm-twisting.

"My sense is, knowing the body language he goes into when he makes a big decision, he's inclined to do it," said Brett Doster, a top strategist for both of George W. Bush's Florida presidential campaigns. "He'd want to let the other guys get on with it if he weren't going to run."

Because of Bush's popularity and influence among Florida Republicans, other candidates can't start building campaigns as long as he's known to be interested in the race.

"He understands that he has frozen the process while he takes the holidays to think through his decision," said U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow. "That reflects that it's not just a passing fancy."

Putnam has said he could be interested in the race but is more likely to seek a state-level office such as agriculture commissioner.

Bush has long said he wasn't interested in a Senate seat because he prefers being an executive over the compromise process of a legislative body.

But the current political climate in Washington might make the situation more tempting, some experts said.

After losses in Congress in the past two elections, and loss of the White House, there's a power vacuum among Republicans in Washington that Bush could fill.

"The national party is virtually leaderless right now," Doster said. Bush "has indicated an interest in shaping the party's future and platform - he has an opportunity to be the guy who helps shape the national message."

Though Bush's close associates deny it, salvaging the family's political reputation, devastated by the record unpopularity of George W. Bush, may also be part of the reason.

Jeb Bush has shown signs of national political ambitions - national speaking appearances, setting up an education policy foundation, and doing a recent interview on his vision for the Republican Party's future.

At the moment, however, his chances for a presidential nomination are dim.

The Bush name "is very badly damaged," said University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato. "I do not believe for the foreseeable future, many elections to come, Americans would be willing to elect a third Bush."

But in the Senate, Sabato said, "he could redefine Bushism."

Since leaving the governor's office after serving two terms, from 1998-2006, Bush has gone to work at his own commercial real estate firm in Miami, joined two corporate boards and worked with his two foundations, the Foundation for Florida's Future and the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

With his three children all grown, Bush faces no significant family hindrance to going to Washington.

Florida Republicans think that with Bush's name on the ballot in 2010, along with Gov. Charlie Crist running for re-election, they'd have the best of all worlds: Bush, a champion of the conservative side of the party, would draw conservatives to the polls, while Crist has appeal to moderates and crossover Democrats.

Bush "would re-create a buzz among the Republican base that was missing from the last election," said Cory Tilley, a Tallahassee consultant and former Jeb Bush campaign worker. "It would be a dream ticket."