Bush helps candidates in non-Trump territory

Former president slowly wading back into politics

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Former President George W. Bush is quietly helping boost Republican candidates in places where President Donald Trump has struggled. In so doing, the former two-term president is raising his profile, ever so slightly, in the national politics he eschewed for years.

On Friday, Bush appeared in Florida, which Trump narrowly won, on behalf of Gov. Rick Scott in the state’s expensive Senate race. On Wednesday, Bush held an event in Fort Worth, Texas, for Republican Rep. Will Hurd in a congressional district Trump lost in 2016.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who also attended the Scott event Friday, said in an email that his brother “is helping Senate candidates across the country.”

These events are a focal part of Bush’s re-emergence in national politics ahead of the Nov. 6 election that will help determine control of Congress.

The presence of Trump looms large over the elections. He has pledged to campaign as many days as possible to help Republicans defend their majorities, including in Texas, where Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is defending his seat against a strong challenge from Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

The president has demonstrated that with one tweet, he can sway the fortunes of Republicans who dare cross him. For Republican candidates in places where voters don’t love Trump, that puts them in uncomfortable positions.

So Bush is stepping in, officials in Washington, Florida and Texas said. Doing so could help with voters such as independents and women who want Congress to stay in Republican hands. Florida’s GOP chairman, Blaise Ingoglia, said Bush is a “plus” for Scott’s bid to defeat the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Bill Nelson.

Marc Short, Trump’s former legislative director, said Bush and Trump “have more overlap than is often reported.” Both, for example, are fans of Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, whom Bush first put on the federal bench.

Short said Bush’s time away from politics heightens his appeal.

“I’m not going to attempt to gloss over the differences” between Trump and Bush, Short said. “I think that there’s enormous respect for President Bush and the class act that he’s always been. I think he has significant appeal among not just donors but also voters.”

It’s not Bush’s first move back toward national politics.

Bush re-emerged with a message that echoed with politics at the Sept. 1 funeral of Arizona Sen. John McCain in Washington.

“John’s voice will always come as a whisper over our shoulder: We are better than this. America is better than this,” Bush said from the pulpit of Washington National Cathedral.

Jacquelyn Martin The Associated Press file Former President George W. Bush was in Florida on Friday to fundraise for Gov. Rick Scott’s bid to oust Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in a closely watched campaign.